Born and raised in the flatlands of the Mississippi Delta, Elizabeth Barenis began painting at a very early age. Her parents, who owned a music store, nourished Elizabeth’s creative spirit by enrolling her in private art lessons throughout childhood. Art continued to have a presence in her life throughout her college years at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. In 2004, after graduation and a summer at the Chautauqua Institute for Art, Elizabeth focused her efforts primarily on painting. She has been living and working in St. Petersburg, Florida, since 2015, where her art maintains a presence in local galleries. In addition, she was a recipient of the 2017 Emerging Artist Grant by Creative Pinellas.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My style consists of straight, clean lines and geometric shapes gently abstracted from reality to deliver a new perspective to the viewer. I call this technique “Abstract Precisionism.” Using my own photography as reference, I generalize the colors and forms to provide a method for the viewer to ultimately discover meaning that is at once personal and universal. In a way similar to finding shapes and stories in the clouds, the viewer can find his or her own story within my painting. From a psychological perspective, the art allows introspection into the workings of the mind. My paintings offer an experience akin to Salvador Dali’s mode of presenting a double-image, through which the viewer must adjust his mechanism of perception to shift between the two images. The process is also parallels the approach of the Rorschach inkblot tests, in which ambiguous images are shown to the viewer who then describes what comes to mind, and the resulting answers are used to reveal the character traits and personality of the viewer. In essence, the viewer, to some extent, becomes the subject of the art. Thus, my purpose as an artist is to provide a means through which the audience can shine light on the depths of their own minds; and the backdrop for this illumination comes in the form of beauty I have found in the world, captured with my camera, and translated onto the canvas. Beauty becomes a driving force in opening the doors of perception.