The most valuable space for an artist is not physical. It is not canvas, brushes, paint, glue, scissors or a room; it is the space inside the mind. It is the space to explore ideas, think about concepts and compositions, deciding how to get out of a problem or combine past ideas. Finding the mental space is often hard. I find think time through walking. To me walking is like a mini vacation. Walking, especially in nature, allows me to step outside of society for awhile, all it’s constraints and expectations. Find out more about Elayne here.

Walking as a cultural activity, as pleasure, as travel, as a means of getting around is fading and with it goes a profound relationship between the body, the world and the imagination. The decline in walking to me is an indicator of the loss of freedom- freedom of space, freedom of time… Walls divide us but trails connect us. My work is full of trails.

Being an artist is to constantly have a conversation with yourself. As I walk I am selecting, eliminating and emphasizing ideas. What comes up is often a multitude of questions, rather than answers. Back at my studio I am ready to explore the questions and see what answers arise. For me the meaning often comes behind the work, rather than in front of it. I work to narrow my thinking, searching for the answers.

My collages, and decollages, are created on a variety of substrates; birch panel, mat board, canvas and paper. Scissors, hole punches and sandpapers are used when working with found and purchased paper. Gel medium is used as an adhesive, and after completion a coat of spray varnish is applied to the work.

My work charts both the inner and outer world as I walk, examining the world from multiple and varied perspectives at one time. It explores the simple outer rhythmical movement and patterns of my body integrated with my inner imagination and thinking.