Ellen Brook

 First Time Art Party Participant

Coming to the Fore

Artist’s Website

www.ellen-brook.com

Artist’s Statement

Silk once served as a currency in the East and a gateway to the West. My mixed-media paintings continue that exchange by referencing the philosophical and spiritual ideas of the East while transporting the ancient discipline of painting on silk into our contemporary experience. My current work explores the search for a meditative rather than a demanding energy to navigate our Western urban lives.

I create my own visual currency via color, markings and geometric shapes. According to many ancient spiritual teachings as well as modern science, colors are essentially frequencies that can impact emotion and states of being. In the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, asymmetry and “imperfection” are viewed as beauty. My creative approach draws on these world views, allowing colors, organic shapes and lines to emerge naturally, mapping the movement between our inner and outer landscapes.

Through the cross fertilization of media, my goal is to evoke the inner sanctuary where individuals can retreat from the hectic energy of today’s urban environments.