Ellen Churchill Plantevin

"As an expatriate living in London, a sense of place continues to be of primary interest to me as subject matter for my work. These paintings are about place, inside and outside, and how we experience and remember the places we have visited and the places we call home. In my landscape and still-life paintings, simplified shapes, rhythm, and colour act as a means to capture memory.

The process of making a painting is as significant to me as the subject matter. I like to work in mixed water media as it allows me the greatest amount of flexibility as I build up the layers of each piece. All kinds of items from the bottom of my pockets or the floor of my studio such as discarded paper palettes, fabric remnants, newspaper clippings, ticket stubs, etc, are collaged and sewn on to the painting to develop a textured and tactile surface.

For me, this process of gluing and sewing and perhaps even taking apart and sewing together again acts as a metaphor for the way that my life and that of many women seems to be one of holding things together, a patchwork of experiences and responsibilities at home, at work and in the community.

The strong craft aspect in my work is important in that I have never been comfortable with traditional definitions of what is art. The stitched surface acts as a reference to the “feminine” arts that have been traditionally a creative outlet for women but that have been often relegated to a lower status in art hierarchy."

New Works

August 21st - September 4th, 2010

Please join us for the opening reception at 6-9PM, Saturday, August 21st, 2010