Flower Show (2020), oil on linen, $1,600

Join us on Wednesday, July 29, 6 p.m., for an online artist talk by Eileen Gillespie regarding her work in our Floriography exhibition. This talk will be streamed live on Facebook.

Join the conversation: Artist Talk

“My work uses a visceral painting language to describe the natural world in structural terms. Direct observation of both local landscapes and distant places to which I visit serve as subject matter and inspiration. Daily walks out in nature provide much of the content for my paintings. My paintings aim to capture a moment in time. It is through painting that I discover, experiment and enjoy leaps of faith that land onto the canvas and become unique objects of their own. Emotion, abstraction, rigor and playfulness are all involved. Working with flowers and the genre of still life brings the subject at hand directly into the studio. Through observation the floral subject becomes a means to further explore the medium of painting itself. When the marks become alive on the canvas they become their own individual subject and object. The painting takes over and what is left is an abstract representation of the spark that the painting is intended to portray. The historical aspect of floral painting as a genre is fascinating to me and as a painter as I am taking a turn at placing myself into this history. In the end I find that the timeless lushness, intricacy of nature, expression of color and gesture is well suited to my painting vocabulary and sense of expression.” - Eileen Gillespie