Ellen Schiff

www.ellenhallieschiff.com

Artist Statment

In my work I use the paint to mirror my emotional state, as well as my response to the paint itself on the canvas.

I apply the paint with brushes and the palette knife.  I use the knife to throw, spatter, drip and mix the colors on the canvas.  I scrape off some or all of the paint, scratch lines into the paint, obscure most of them, re-scratch lines, obscure again.  Sometime I begin with an idea, sometimes the idea is formed as I paint.  Working very quickly for a time, I respond to the paint seemingly at the same time as applying it.  

Then I pause and step back. I go back and forth until my responses and the paint itself merge to form something new entirely.The final result is a “picture” of a moment in time as well as a process, or dialogue between myself and the paint.  My wish, in part, is to create an emotional response in the viewer, and that does not have to be the emotions I experienced while painting.  Using the paint to help communicate that which cannot be spoken has become endlessly fascinating and thoroughly addictive.  I hope never to be cured.