ELIZABETH ABEL
A British artist in residency from September 24th – October 16th, 2023
noh-art is thrilled to announce a new and outstanding art-residency project in Naples (Italy). The guest is Elizabeth Abel, a British contemporary artist, graduated at the Royal College of Art London, in residency from September 24th to October 16th, 2023.
Elizabeth works fade between complete abstraction and restraint. The abstraction comes from the flow of thoughts, feelings, and emotions, always trying to find a tension between perception and figuration, finding pieces and fragments of light and form that sometimes can create an object or a figure. The residency will take place in a unique place, Punto Zero Valeria Apicella, a research space dedicated to performance and contemporary visual arts.The site occupies a former wing of the large sixteenth-century cloister of Santa Caterina a Formiello, in Naples, which became a wool factory in the Bourbon era and then the site of various artisan activities. The synergy with the historical space will allow the artist to fully experience the Neapolitan culture, traditions and history.
Elizabeth Abel (2001) was born in London in 2001, where she currently lives and works. She received the BFA in Fine Art at the Slade School of Fine Art in 2022 and she achieved the MA in painting at the Royal College of Art in 2023.
“I am feeling around. I am unearthing. Discovering what is at the hard core in my head. A feeling, a memory, a place. Something ancient. Traces of where people have been. Bodies moving, passing each other, folded, suffocating, embracing, resting on each other. I am finding pieces and fragments of light and form. Sometimes this can create an object, a figure. Sometimes I am left with a color, a line. An absence. A presence.Sexual. Intimate. Abandonment. Flowers. Red corresponds with blue. My work fades between complete abstraction and restraint. Nostalgia. I am trying to create some structure. They could be human limbs, or an animal. They are open and ambiguous. They provide a structure for new lines to hang on to. The lines and marks build up and fall apart into fragments. They eventually fade away and dissolve into repairs made in white paint. Marks wrestle and clash with one another, as soft color washes over the surface, preserving the serenity. The abstraction comes from the flow of thoughts, feelings, and emotions I have. I am always trying to find a tension between abstraction and figuration. When I paint all of this comes out of me in a messy heap onto the surface. It is a cathartic experience. I paint quickly, and it is about creating the composition and choosing colors instinctively. Colors allow me to be immersed in a pleasure that grows as I paint.”
