Artist Statement 2009

I work with oil on canvas. I look for images that cause my heart to leap, active, mid-flight narratives that speak of something about to happen, of the possibility of magic.

I usually work on several images concurrently, working the palette in subtle variations. I often paint the same image repeatedly in an effort to discover an abstraction within the image, and as a way of journaling my work, creating small images as a prelude to large format works. The 3 themes in my work, portraits, swimmers and animals, offer a portal into my imagination and in this dialogue with the canvas I wish to develop into an artist of instinctive abstract large-scale works of lush paint.

The swimming series emerged in 2004 in response to a specific moment in the life of my family and a strong desire to mark a moment of pure joy. I am intrigued by the metaphor of the leap of faith and the images I choose resonate with the fragility of the individual, the search for the Divine and the simplicity of selective memory. The jumpers and divers are mortal representatives of the perfection of the human spirit, of a moment in time, and of the possibility of magic. I know these people and embrace the absurdity and the humor of their bodies in full flight, and of their joyful and fearless abandonment to the present.

Artist statement 2011 | Artist statement 2010 | Artist statement 2008

Biography

Elizabeth Lennie is an actress who lives in mid-town Toronto with husband actor/author Mike Kirby and their three daughters. Together Mike and "Libby" run Voiceworx.