Elaine Housman

Biography

Elaine Housman started showing her bronze sculptures in the art gallery-studded town of Kent, CT, with the colorful Jacques Kaplan. She had over ten shows, mostly solo, showing over 50 works during almost 20 years of sculpting. Housman gradually transitioned to printmaking, a natural evolution for her as she brought her tactile and textural approach to the medium.  She has found that layering monotypes with techniques such as drypoint, stencils, and mixed media provide the spontaneity, playfulness, and compositional possibilities best suited to express her narratives. 

Her work has been described in reviews as (NY Times), "vigorously modeled, they arouse associations with Giacometti and his existential figures. These bronzes have a presence, and the search for meaning is paramount and diminutive but powerful."

Housman has won many awards for her sculptures, among them two Certificate of Merit awards in juried shows at The National Academy of Design, and Audubon Artists Show in NYC, and is a Life Member of the Art Students League. 

She shows regularly with the Ober Gallery in Kent, CT.

Artist statement

I started drawing in my late twenties, as a new mother at home mindlessly sketching friends, family, and business associates of my husband's who came to visit. The ability to draw came naturally, and I started taking classes at the Arts Students League. From once a week, to twice a week, weekends, and then 5 days a week, I had found my path in life. The sculpture was my first deep commitment, and drawings were the way to think them out on paper before making the clay and then the wax maquette for casting.  

Over the years I transitioned to printmaking as many of the sculptors I admired had done before me.  In the same way that I created special textures and non-traditional patinas to enhance the mood and emotional impact of my sculptures, in my printmaking, I combine unique layers of mixed media, stencils, tones, and lines to convey my ideas. I use these different techniques both on the plate, in the press, and after, directly on the print. A good many of my prints are black and white, though some colors find their way into the compositions.

My work has a narrative element, in that it creates a possible dialogue between meanings that hopefully engages the viewer in his or her own thoughts and interpretations. I use figures in evocative settings to suggest mood, environments, and subtexts. My work has sometimes been described as introspective, and personal, in the sense that I draw from my own life, and those close to me, and project these observations and feelings. At the same time, I believe that it’s from examining ourselves that we see and understand the world.

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