Ellen Orseck

Ellen on her new body of work "Liquified" which runs December 6, 2014 - January 10, 2015 in our Main Gallery and is shown above left:

"Something magical happens when a body is immersed in water.  The form and shape of the body are transformed by the fluid nature of water and the refraction of light.

Limbs become liquid and color flows with the motion of water.  What is recognizable becomes abstracted and altered.

My fascination with the impact of water on the body relates to the elemental forces of birth and death– there is a connection to the embryonic process of becoming into life and the transmutation of life as it decays into death.

For this collection of works, I photographed female gymnasts who could assume a multitude of different poses underwater.  Additionally, I used dog models to capture the movement of the animal in motion – a kind of Eadweard Muybridge experiment with the concept of gesture and movement.

The ripples of light, playing on the skin surface, are as significant to me visually as the entire shape of the swimmer/figure.  I gravitate toward the patterns found in light and shadow as well as the patterns found in fabric and nature.  There is diffidently a feminine force at work here, a reference to ritual purification and the mysteries of a life force."

Ellen Orseck talking about her other works:

"Whether painting fully clothed figures floating underwater, abstractions of stormy weather or sumo wrestler dolls immersed in chocolate cake, my subjects are characters in a narrative.  At times grave and at times beautiful, the subjects are selected to evoke different responses to life, to illuminate, or to call to mind human emotions."

Artist Bio and Statement

Located in the heart of Gallery Row, near River Oaks in the Upper Kirby District, in Houston, Texas, our art gallery offers collectors a wide range of contemporary art in various media by artists on both a national and international level. The art gallery has an active program of exhibitions displaying artistic expressions in drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Nicole Longnecker Gallery is dedicated to further promoting visual art in our community by supporting local educational efforts and various non-profit organizations along with engaging new collectors and companies and educating the community about art.