Ellen Paxson
Ellen Paxson · Source: New York Artists Circle · Rights retained by the original rights holders
- Medium
- Graphite, Ink, Oil Paint, Oil Pastel/Crayon, Paper, Pastel
- Based in
- Long Island City studio
- Practice
- Drawing, Painting
Ellen Paxson was raised on a family farm in a small rural community in northeastern Indiana. From an early age, Ellen spent much of her alone time exploring fields and wooded acres while drawing what she saw or imagined … Full biography
Biography
Ellen Paxson was raised on a family farm in a small rural community in northeastern Indiana. From an early age, Ellen spent much of her alone time exploring fields and wooded acres while drawing what she saw or imagined on scraps of lined notebook paper. Her need to draw in order to fully comprehend her surroundings was set and has never wavered. After graduating from college she enjoyed a brief tenure as an art teacher while earning a master's degree from the Herron School of Art / Indiana University. After completing her degree she went on to study painting in the M.F.A. program at Pratt Institute before pursuing a lengthy career in arts management and museum administration. In 2013 she returned to New York and resumed full-time work as an artist. Ellen currently maintains a studio practice in Long Island City.
Artist statement
I rely on a fluid, intuitive line to make bold mixed-media drawings and paintings of dissembled, life-like forms or unstable geometric constructions intertwined or trapped within architectural or skeletal grids. Neither abstract nor recognizable, the subject matter can appear both benign and threatening as forms are conjoined or aligned in surprising ways. I favor soft materials like vine charcoal, waxy crayons, or oils that generously imprint upon paper and canvas. I only use color as punctuation or disruption preferring the infinity of black. My aim is to capture fleeting aspects of a wayward landscape in constant collision with itself and resistant to any imposed order.
