click to enlarge
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Susan Elmes
There are two ways in which an oil painting can present the illusion of space. Some paintings give a trompe l'oiel effect in which parts of the painting appear to project out of the painting or to sit on top of the background. An alternative illusion is created when the viewer can look past the foreground items into the background. It is this latter effect that most excites me. Often realist paintings suffer from being to close to the world of illustration which is a graphic art dedicated to telling one particular story. When the viewer can look into the painting she can begin to tell her own story about the new world she has wandered into. Here she is free to travel around the painting by herself and her own imagination can release the painting from the particular viewpoint of the painter. She can make the painting her own. This can transform an image from illustration to art.
My work has been exhibited in numerous shows across the country including shows at the National Arts Club (NY), the Bristol Art Museum (RI), Columbia College (MO), St John’s University (NY), the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (NY) and the Broome Street Gallery (NY). I have received awards from the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society, the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Society, the National Association of Women Artists and the Academic Artist’s Association among others. I am a Signature member of the National Oil and Acrylic Painter’s Society as well as a member of the Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Society and the National Association of Women Artists.
Contact: se5@columbia.edu