Artist Statement
As a painter of nature, I face evidence of climate change in every place I paint, and yet the beauty of a place is ever present. I am interested in expressing the environmental crisis we are in by painting the beauty and loss I observe around me. I’m drawn to watery places where the light, color and forms are both recognizable and abstract. The work begins with direct experience of a place where I gather information like a naturalist might. I draw or paint from life and larger works in the studio develop from these studies. I aim to stay truthful to what I see while being open to where the painting process takes me. I fight and delight in the act of painting until it resolves itself. I am a witness with a paint brush, expressing both the beauty and loss of this moment.
BIOGRAPHY
Elizabeth Awalt lives in Concord, Massachusetts and Swans Island, Maine. She received her BA from Boston College and MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. She returned to Boston College to teach and was awarded tenure as an Associate Professor. The artist currently teaches workshops in painting and drawing.
Elizabeth Awalt’s work is rooted in the natural world, particularly landscapes of raw beauty or those affected by environmental change. The artist’s work has been supported by fellowships and grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and the MacDowell, Yaddo, and Millay Colonies. Elizabeth’s work has been shown in Boston area group exhibitions including the Museum of Fine Arts, DeCordova Museum, Rose Art Museum, and McMullen Museum. Solo shows include the Danforth Museum, Matter and Light Fine Art, Clark Gallery, Soprafina Gallery, Thomas Segal Gallery, GW Einstein Gallery, Caldbeck Gallery, and Cove Street Arts. In April 2019 the artist was invited to exhibit in the Thirteenth Havana Biennale in Mantanzas, Cuba.
“Awalt engages nature’s chaos as a means of seeking out its order and immerses herself in its darks to find its light.”
