| CHASE YOUNG GALLERY
450 Harrison Ave, No. 57 Boston
MA 02118 617-859-7222
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Elise Wagner -
Artist Statement |
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Painting has always been a good platform for me to negotiate the tensions between the real and the abstract, chaos and order, the unknown and the factual. I do this with every layer of the surface, making the evolution of the painting its own past present and future. The texture and complexity of the surfaces often represent the great unknown and celestial, while the scientific symbolism suggests the accurate and quantifiable. Daily studio practice and ritual becomes the narrative of the work; a process of making, reflecting researching and making again. My work explores the relationship between science and art. By combining images of astronomy and physics, my paintings stand as symbols for the seemingly illogical and arbitrary order inherent in today's uncertain world. My paintings intend to evoke the celestial, the philosophical and the emotional. Alchemy in both its symbology and physicality also plays a large role in my work. My process has grown to rely mainly on the unpredictable nature of materials thereby coaxing the environment of my paintings to emerge. Always remaining unattached to the outcome, I often work on several paintings simultaneously. This way of working enables me to detach from the work to some extent in order to make way for a dialogue or theme to emerge. The surface, color and composition navigate me, almost as if the body of work is threaded together like the chapters of a book. Ultimately, my work draws from the more romantic notion of being among a lost series of maps whose places and origins are in the eye of those beholding them.
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