Elizabeth Jardine Portfolio

Contents 1.Statement 2.The Way In, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 170x140cm 3.Swamp House, Oil on Canvas,2011,100x110cm 4.Apocalypso, Oil on Canvas,2012,100x110cm 5.Follower, Oil on Canvas,2012,95x85cm 6.Walkers, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 100x110cm 7.Long Distance 1 (Bad Science), Oil on board, 2013, 24x30cm 8.Long Distance 2 (Space Cadet) Oil on board, 2013, 15x20cm 9.Long Distance 3 (Contemplating Distance), Oil on board, 2013, 18.5x23cm 10.Long Distance 4 (Astrophysics), Oil on board, 2013, 35x40cm 11.Long Distance 5 (He’s got the whole world in his hands), Oil on board, 2013, 35x40cm 12.Gully, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 170x140cm 13.Steeplechase, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 110x140cm 14.Longears, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 95x85cm 15.Woodeye, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 110x140cm

Statement I primarily consider myself a painter, as I find it the medium most similar to my thought process in the way it flows and moves, pools and emerges. My paintings are frequently un-peopled, leaving space for the viewer to drift into the image themselves, but from time to time, dwellings, objects, animals or people crop up in a cycle of recurring imagery. Figures that could be part human, part animal, grow up out of the ground; strangely organic buildings brood from between the trees, looking as though they might get up and walk away; animals hover, constellation-like, in nebulous space. Although the images are figurative, and rooted in a real place or object that I have seen and felt a connection to, they are often semi-abstracted, and hint at a metaphysical reality, with a metaphorical or poetic resonance. My work is concerned with the in-between space, with notions of limbo and wilderness- sometimes trying to find a balance, sometimes accepting a dichotomy, of presence and absence, of a sense of belonging and un-belonging. I make paintings because the plasticity of the paint, the speed of an initial mark in tandem with the slowness and translucency of oils and glazes of colour suit my way of thinking, as well as the subject matter that I explore. I believe that there is still space for the production and contemplation of painted images within contemporary art, that it is an honest and relevant activity, connected to the whole human history of mark-making as a physical thought-process and as a form of communication. I also make use of journeys, photography, journals, sculptures and drawings to explore ideas. Making each painting involves seeking a balance between a still, meditative place; a place of limbo and suspense, and a place of flickering energy and life. This gives the working process and the finished pieces themselves both tension and harmony. I currently paint with oils and make particular use of glazes, building up each piece in layers. Several paintings are worked on at a time, often while they are flat on the floor, or tilted slightly, cradling their slow-drying pools of paint. The image will emerge and dissolve, finally settling somewhere on the edge of becoming- it still needs potential for further growth to feel true. The story of the paint is held in the image: the story of wall-gravity and floor-gravity; flow and evaporation; control and chance. Each piece has a tangible starting point: a composition, developed from photographs or sketches. Once begun, memories, the activity of painting, and the qualities and fluidity of paint itself inform the work. I spend much of my time outdoors and find a parallel between long-distance walking and the act of making a painting, both of which involve entering into a state of simultaneous presence and absence. These long walks and journeys, either alone or accompanied, are integral to my practise, providing me with the imagery, mindset and ideas for a series of work.

Rooter, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 170x140cm

The Way In, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 170x140cm

Swamp House, Oil on Canvas,2011,100x110cm

Apocalypso, Oil on Canvas,2012,100x110cm

Follower, Oil on Canvas,2012,95x85cm

Walkers, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 100x110cm

LongDistance1 (Bad Science), Oil on board, 2013, 24x30cm

Long Distance2 (Space Cadet) Oil on board, 2013, 15x20cm

Long Distance 3 (Contemplating Distance), Oil on board, 2013, 18.5x23cm

Long Distance 4 (Astrophysics), Oil on board, 2013, 35x40cm

Long Distance 5 (He’s got the whole world in his hands), Oil on board, 2013, 35x40cm

Gully, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 170x140cm

Steeplechase, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 110x140cm

Longears, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 95x85cm

Woodeye, Oil on Canvas, 2012, 110x140cm