Elizabeth was born and spent her formative years in the Chicago area. Since then, she has lived and worked in different parts of the western United States, including Colorado and the Bay Area. She currently maintains a studio in Seattle, WA.

She has a BA from the University of Illinois in French Language and Linguistics and studied fine and graphic arts at Colorado State University.

Elizabeth has worked in many media including oils, pastels, charcoal, collage, assemblage, and embroidery. Her current focus is on painting.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Memory exists not only in language, but also in visual perception. Our minds record, in a non-verbal way, both ideas and images. As input is stored, processed and re-interpreted in idiosyncratic ways, the imagery becomes part of of an artist’s visual language.

I use my own bank of mental images to piece together work that has significance to me.
Motifs I constantly work with are florals, pattern, vintage graphic imagery, costume, birds, rabbits, and fruit.

In the studio, pieces sometimes begin with a plan or a desire to explore certain imagery, but often mark-making starts the work’s direction. Process itself determines the next step. I often add dimensional imagery to flat pattern because I like the juxtaposition that occurs between them.

My studio process is subtractive as well as additive. I often sand imagery down or partially cover it to leave a visual history. I want my work to show evidence of being handmade — a person made decisions, made mistakes, made corrections, added and subtracted up until the moment of completion. The finished work retains evidence of its evolution. In this era of the slick finish, flickering screen and transitory image this is meaningful to me.