Steven Erdman, The Human L.A.R.D Dog aka Yam Daddy Yam

About the Artist

As a graphic artist with hand-illustrating abilities, a songwriter and producer, an animator and filmmaker, and a set designer and prop creator, I have spent the last thirty-plus years working on projects for Nickelodeon and MTV, contributing artwork to numerous publications, creating art for the likes of Philip Glass and Patti Smith— and last but not least, bringing to life the weirdo rock sounds of my Live music show, Yam On! featuring Lard Dog & The Band of Shy, renowned for their surreal theatrical performances.

Throughout my career, I have collaborated with a wide array of notable talents, including Norah Jones, Adam Goldberg, Natasha Lyonne, Clarence Reid (aka Blowfly), and more recently, Philadelphia’s own Marshall Allen of The Sun Ra Arkestra. For Allen, I created the "Salty Jawn” sculpture— a giant Philadelphian pretzel for our collaboration, "Ode to Pretzel." 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, faced with the setback of losing what felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour China, I embraced the mantra "Yam On!" to persevere. This led to the creation of the YAMATORIUM, a showcase for my mini "Yammy" sculptures, my Spacebird illustrations, The Dreamotron, my Felinedeliphian Cats and more, more, more!