About:
Drawing from art history, mythology, memory and pop-culture, Elizabeth Glaessner's dream-like paintings conjure a surreal universe uninhibited by conventional boundaries. In this imagined realm, fluid figures populate amorphous landscapes where both person and surrounding are in a seemingly constant state of metamorphoses.
Glaessner begins each piece intuitively, layering oil over poured pigments, allowing the paint to interrupt the narrative making room for the subconscious. Inspired by symbolist painters such as Edvard Munch, Glaessner uncovers a psychological world with her distinct use of color and technique.
Through form and process her paintings act as gateways into untapped emotions, triggering our primordial unconscious, freed from the burden of societal boundaries and moral codes.
bio curtesy of Perrotin
" I think I’m drawn to stories and authors that linger in the in-between, that explore characters that contain multitudes, monsters that elicit empathy, that make the familiar strange, and that really consider and dissect language."
“People have asked me, like, “Oh, are the paintings about your dreams?” They’re never an illustration of my dreams, but I do dream analysis. If I get stuck with the language to describe something, I’ll do a quick drawing and use it as a starting point for conversation... Doing analysis has been helpful for me to figure out how certain forms start to gain some meaning or significance to me. It creates a logic for me to use in a painting in a different way."
“I’m interested in what could possibly be born out of a toxic landscape left behind. But then through all of these mutations, something positive can be born.”
"With an intense painting, I always want to find room for humor or levity. I think titles are an opportunity to contrast the dominant feeling, and can actually make that feeling more palpable."
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About our Artist Features
Our artist features series is a continuation of our past Instagram story series. Meant as a brief introduction to an artist, we aim for these post to be a reprieve to your scrolling, a stimulus for creativity and dialogue, and a fun way to share images and ideas that are inspiring us.