Artist Statement 2010

The liquid landscape of northern Ontario cottage country and the winter freeze where a shinny game is in play mark a passage of time inherent in the dual reality of my home. I cannot remember ever playing shinny yet the tradition holds great presence to me as a Canadian. Water to ice and back again and we are compelled to adapt to the seasons, connected by nature to a cycle of change.

The Canadian landscape has captured the imagination of generations of artists, in the blues of the snow, the reds of the trees, the pinks of the water and the violet in the skies. I create a narrative in my images grounded by a figure with reference to some kind of active story. I work to capture the magic in the moment, as it projects back through my memory, to a time of present awareness, reflecting somewhere we have all been.

Oil paint is the medium I choose. The process of squeezing the pigment onto the palette and then mixing the colors with a knife is a ritual which connects me to the canvas and the thread of a Canadian childhood mythology is recorded as I imagine it. The figures are vague and are meant to charge the imagination of the viewer, as if they could place themselves within the portal of the canvas. We live in a magnificent land. Strong and free. A safe place to raise a child. For this I am grateful each day.

Artist statement 2008 | Artist statement 2009

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.

Listen to Media

Commercial demo
Promo demo
Narration demo