POSTER DESIGNS
POSTER DESIGNS
POSTER DESIGNS
CONTACT FOR INQUERIES
CONTACT FOR INQUERIES
CONTACT FOR INQUERIES
Elena Low
My process is a moody one and my decisions are based on emotional whim. I start with an instinct and every step is an attempt to problem solve until that instinct reveals itself into physical form - discovering through creating.
When I get to work, I scan through my library of saved photographs. I look through until I find one that excites me and satisfies my mood. Once I have an image selected I decide quickly which materials I’d like to apply. Would the viscosity of paint suit my desires or would the process of drawing satisfy my urge more immediately and provide for the directness of hand-to-product that I may be looking for? It comes down to a quick judgment call by creatively imagining the potential of my materials. Without any prep-work or sketches, I jump right into the art making, allowing for as much discovery as possible.
A portrait, a pose, a gesture, a facial expression - these forms of representations are my tools of communication. In the human form, all the variations of muscles flex in a certain synchronicity, operating as an algorithm. It is through this unique formation that a story is revealed, divulging a message that is uniquely understood on a human-to-human level. Subjects that I am compelled to recreate are those which offer a subtle complexity. They suggest a tone of quiet strength, a combination of power and softness. They are coy while vulnerable, distant and intimate. These intricate subjects speak to my nature and it’s through creating their image that I can personify my own sentiments.
Drawing portraits also offers something else: it is an opportunity to practice “telling” the truth. I find that recreating someone’s image can’t be faked even though I may take some stylistic, artistic choices to change the mode of how I represent that image and emphasize my role as the artist in creating the work. To capture the uniquely individual nuances of a specific face or gesture requires honesty and authenticity. When I step back to assess my work, I can tell on a gut level whether or not my marks work together to give me the impression of my chosen subject.
With a “finished” painting there may always be considerations for more edits but for me to be done working on it I have reached a point where I feel complete with what I have created. There is a sense of satisfaction - not a sense, of it is “done.” To put my materials away, the image must compel me and I feel as though I have discovered what I needed to find.
Elena Low holds a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in painting from New York University
Elena currently lives and works in San Francisco. She is available for gallery showing opportunities as well as portrait commission work.
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My process is a moody one and my decisions are based on emotional whim. I start with an instinct and every step is an attempt to problem solve until that instinct reveals itself into physical form - discovering through creating.
When I get to work, I scan through my library of saved photographs. I look through until I find one that excites me and satisfies my mood. Once I have an image selected I decide quickly which materials I’d like to apply. Would the viscosity of paint suit my desires or would the process of drawing satisfy my urge more immediately and provide for the directness of hand-to-product that I may be looking for? It comes down to a quick judgment call by creatively imagining the potential of my materials. Without any prep-work or sketches, I jump right into the art making, allowing for as much discovery as possible.
A portrait, a pose, a gesture, a facial expression - these forms of representations are my tools of communication. In the human form, all the variations of muscles flex in a certain synchronicity, operating as an algorithm. It is through this unique formation that a story is revealed, divulging a message that is uniquely understood on a human-to-human level. Subjects that I am compelled to recreate are those which offer a subtle complexity. They suggest a tone of quiet strength, a combination of power and softness. They are coy while vulnerable, distant and intimate. These intricate subjects speak to my nature and it’s through creating their image that I can personify my own sentiments.
Drawing portraits also offers something else: it is an opportunity to practice “telling” the truth. I find that recreating someone’s image can’t be faked even though I may take some stylistic, artistic choices to change the mode of how I represent that image and emphasize my role as the artist in creating the work. To capture the uniquely individual nuances of a specific face or gesture requires honesty and authenticity. When I step back to assess my work, I can tell on a gut level whether or not my marks work together to give me the impression of my chosen subject.
With a “finished” painting there may always be considerations for more edits but for me to be done working on it I have reached a point where I feel complete with what I have created. There is a sense of satisfaction - not a sense, of it is “done.” To put my materials away, the image must compel me and I feel as though I have discovered what I needed to find.
“A most mediocre person can be the object of a love which is wild, extravagant, and beautiful as the poison lilies of the swamp. A good man may be the stimulus for a love both violent and debased, or a jabbering madman may bring about in the soul of someone a tender and simple idyll. Therefore, the value and quality of any love is determined solely by the lover himself.”
-Carson McCullers, The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories
My passion is making figurative and portrait artwork. I love taking a person’s image and devoting all my attention to make a beautiful rendering of it. When I think about this further I realize, “Isn’t that how we live?” We take what is around us and we attribute our own unique and personal value to it. Reality is inherently devoid of meaning. It is only when one brings in the human element of cognition and perception that “truths” are made about it. Our cognition of reality is actually an experience of our own schemata. By the same token, whatever I put to canvas is not the person it is my conception of them.
For my upcoming body of work I will be exploring my role as a portrait artist and equating it to the role we continuously enact in the human experience. In both cases, we are assessing and creating value to the world around us - this is the art of living. A series of images will include myself in the picture, observing the subject (the person). In doing so, I am taking a step back, to investigate the act of the observation of the subject rather than just the outcome of that observation (the final portrait). By reframing the work in this manner, I am posing the question: "Who am I being in the face of reality?"