Exhibitions

ELEANOR ALDRICH: IRONS IN THE FIRE

Hamilton Center for the Arts (Lincoln Memorial University) / 703 Brooklyn St., Cumberland Gap, TN August 14, 2017 - September 29, 2017

Eleanor Aldrich

My work is textural and alchemical; I match materials – often industrial sealants – and techniques to the subject matter they look like. This creates a physical similarity to the actual object and a level of realism is achieved without realistic rendering. I am interested in how this low-relief mimicry of objects contributes to a two-dimensional image, while pushing against the expectation of flatness. The physicality of an object is a standard for reality, yet the physicality of my work is obviously made by my subjective hand. I find this creates tension between reality and image in a way that is familiar in life.

I find that having a high risk quotient to my work - be it cutting the canvas, using massive amounts of oil paint, or working with sticky, uncontrollable silicone - is what excites me about painting. Often I start with a technique I want to exploit for its similarity to something in the real world, and only later do I come to understand the art historical references and penchant for narrative that exists in each work. I attribute my appreciation of mystery and the possibility of transformation in my work to my Catholic upbringing, in which materials were transformed and images held power over life and death.