BFA, Studio Art (Painting & Drawing)
Secondary Focus, Ceramics

elleespalding@gmail.com
https://www.elleespalding.com
@ellee.spalding

Artist Statement

Stuck to Structure

My paintings demonstrate the struggle to retain order through systems. Alternately embracing rigidity and awkwardness, layers of planes in each work cause synergized interactions as they fall in and out of a controlled state.  

I find fascination in structures of all kinds, including those we exist alongside or operate within daily, even sometimes unknowingly. I’m also motivated by my interest in psychology and behavioral tendencies. In working through these ideas, I integrate conflict alongside the structural harmonies of aesthetics by utilizing true randomness as a variable strategy for material explorations. The work is driven by a randomized series of prompts, as well as randomly generated points and lines. Paintings are layered over time, creating sectional or planar compositions that allude to my systems-driven process. Patching, reinforcing, or removing become a means for revision or reconsideration.  Despite the pursuit of a perfect relationship to structure being unachievable through the artist’s hand, the body of work feels inclined to reach for it. This juxtaposition shapes a process that is methodical- yet surprisingly collaborative and intuitive. The balance of the two, constantly in flux, continues to drive my work.