Elizabeth Abel

I am feeling around. I am unearthing. Discovering what is at the hard core in my head. A feeling, a memory, a place. Something ancient. Traces of where people have been. Bodies moving, passing each other, folded, suffocating, embracing, resting on each other. I am finding pieces and fragments of light and form. Sometimes this can create an object, a figure. Sometimes I am left with a colour, a line. An absence. A presence. Sexual. Intimate. Abandonment. Flowers. Red corresponds with blue. My work fades between complete abstraction and restraint. Nostalgia. I am trying to create some structure. They could be human limbs, or an animal. They are open and ambiguous. They provide a structure for new lines to hang on to. The lines and marks build up and fall apart into fragments. They eventually fade away and dissolve into repairs made in white paint. Marks wrestle and clash with one another, as soft colour washes over the surface, preserving the serenity. The abstraction comes from flow of thoughts, feelings, and emotions I have. I am always trying to find a tension between abstraction and figuration. When I paint all of this comes out of me in a messy heap onto the surface. It is a cathartic experience. I paint quickly, and it is about creating the composition and choosing colours instinctively. Colours allow me be immersed in a pleasure that grows as I paint.