"I am a British native living and working in LA. I spent many years as a textile artist in the Fashion Industry and I also taught textile design to fashion and merchandizing students. These experiences gave me a unique insight into a world of color, texture, and pattern that I now incorporate into my mixed media works on canvas, paper and cardboard. Drawing on the traditions and techniques of textile art, I strive to create a decorative narrative that combines both the abstract and representational in a surreal world."
"Many of my works examine the convergence of fine art, fashion and gender issues as portrayed in the glossy world of the media. Repurposed elements are woven, tucked or pinned into my paintings becoming an integral part of the fabric. I am also fascinated by the natural world and its relationship with technology. Flowers, insects, sea creatures, monkeys and birds are juxtaposed in my paintings with circuit boards, binary codes and the detritus of modern living raising questions about our own relationship with the environment."
"Brains for Bows"
"My paintings are in private collections in the USA, New Zealand and Great Britain and are on display regularly in gallery shows around Los Angeles. I have served on the Boards of the MOCA Projects Council, the Center for the Study of Political Graphics and Women Painters West. I am a member of the Los Angeles Art Association and Textile Arts LA."
"Film Strip"
"La Colmena"
Artist Statement about current body of work:
"I have always been interested in issues of identity in my work. Recently I have been delving deeper by considering our ability to change both individually and collectively. The idea of ‘metamorphosis’ is a running thread that connects my previous work to the series I am currently working on. The process for this new work came together almost by accident. At the beginning of the year, I made a trip back to New Zealand for the first time in 7 years to reconnect with family and friends. The flight is a long one. I am not a great flyer and I needed a distraction. I printed out some some vintage images of women on canvas and took some embroidery thread with me. I doodle stitched away the 14 hours of a terrible flight. The repetitive rhythm of needle and thread through canvas was soothing. The faded black and white images came to life with the stitching intervention and a million stories flooded my mind about what kind of life these women had led and how themes and ideas repeat over may lifetimes."
"These initial vignettes brought me to an ‘aha’ moment when I went to see the exhibit ‘Suffrage in Stitches’ in Wellington NZ. New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote. This exhibit brought together artists from all over Aotearoa who researched, stitched, and acknowledged the women who were part of the landmark legislation that was women’s suffrage."
"On my return, I became obsessed with searching for vintage images of unknown or unrecognized women. It is a very organic process. I may initially choose the image for a certain reason but then as I work on it, it becomes something else completely. With the paint and stitches, the women come to life in a new way and a narrative between subject and viewer begins. Some of the pieces are humorous like “Waiting for Santa”, some political like ‘Votes for Women”’ and some highlight the beauty of diversity like ‘La Cubana’ and ‘Maori’ Like many artists working in this challenging time of Covid-19, the theme of the pandemic has crept into my work. ‘Mask I’ and ‘Mask II’ show vintage women in masks as they may have been during the Spanish Flu pandemic. As I work the series the pieces are transforming into more abstract, mystical works like ‘Minds Eye’. In this piece I experimented with dyeing and printing techniques on non-traditional materials that are then integrated into the painting with the stitching. I am working smaller than I usually do with this series as there is an intimacy that I feel with the subject matter. I feel connected to a long legacy of women who literally held families, homes, and businesses together by ‘threads'."
Eliza Day-Green
June 2020
To see more of Eliza's work, please visit her website at: http://www.elizadaygreen.com
