statement

Eleanna investigates aspects of quotidian experience that often fall outside of our common perceptual frame. In her diverse body of work, negative space becomes positive space, light becomes gesture, absence sparks abundance, sound reverses and divides, small scale expands. By exploiting the anatomy of space, Eleanna aims to sharpen the visceral experience of the everyday.

The most recent work was created during her Spring 2011 residency at Anderson Ranch Arts Center. Upon first glance, the paintings appear to be discarded, crumpled sheets of paper. However, upon further examination, they simultaneously evoke the impression of an aerial view of snow-covered mountains. By creating paintings made of simple materials plaster and paint, Eleanna celebrates a medium used in ancient sculpture and Renaissance fresco painting with her own contemporary twist. Floating on the wall, the work takes on a casual, wonky posture. Falling somewhere between sculpture and painting, the pieces hover in imperfect shapes. Painted on the backside, the work emits a fluorescent glow reflecting off the wall and highlighting the space between the painting and the wall that supports it. This glow further articulates Eleanna's interest in something she calls otherspace, a space explained in quantum physics which is integral to our everyday life and simultaneously less considered.

bio

born: 1980, Evanston, Illinois

education

Kenyon College, BA (with honors and distinction) Studio Art and Womens' and Gender Studies, 2002
Tyler School of Art, Temple University, MFA Painting, 2005

selected awards/honors

Online Curated Registry, White Columns, 2011
Residency, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, 2011
Joan MItchell Foundation Grant to attend ARAC, 2011
Residency, Atlantic Center for the Arts, 2009

selected publications

Adams, Ryan, Hellow Sunshine, Akashic Books: New York, NY (front and back cover art) December 2009

selected solo or two-person exhibits

CAMEO ART SPACE: New Work, Brooklyn, NY 2009

selected group shows

Samson Projects: Chain-Letter, Boston, MA, 2011
South Bend Museum of Art: Biennial 26, Curated by Betsy Carpenter from the Walker Arts Center, South Bend, IN, 2011
Rebekah Templeton Contemporary: Spotlights, Juried by Jon Lutz, Philadelphia, PA, 2011
Galerie Vaclava Spaly: Symbio, Prague, Czech Republic, 2009