ABOUT

My practice uses layering and obliterating as tools to explore the relationship between images, photographs, and previous work. I seek to channel flow states that turn the material in front of me into a study of ever-dancing harmony and discord.

Much of my relationship with color and hue comes from working in restoration and mixing paint. Dedicating years in this field has unquestionably shaped the way I produce my art.

Obliteration becomes an inquiry into order and chaos. Working with oil on canvas and paper, I immerse myself in layers upon layers of paint, brushing and squeegeeing, gradually obscuring and transforming the underlying surface.

I spend hours at a time intimately imbuing physicality and movement into a new project. I stop when I feel I am absolutely done, preserving velocity and entropy at the perfect moment.

I dig in hope to strike equilibrium. I want to leave my audience with just enough information to engage their intuition. Intentionally withholding total clarity invites viewers to delve deeper into their own emotions.

My artistic process teases toward an edge. Having multiple layers means my work is constantly at risk of destruction and I strive to find balance between new forms materializing and former manifestations disappearing—every move into the future endangers progress from the past. Despite concealing seconds, hours, days of work with a new layer, I shed what I don’t need, which is an incredibly revealing and cathartic process.  

Elizabeth Dow

Explore her CV