Engage with new and returning artists before visiting the Cathedral Square venue to see their amazing array of work. Learn about the artists’ personal stories and creative ambitions through five enticing art-related questions.
This week: Elizabeth Brandt
Elizabeth Brandt, Random Thoughts, 2013, fiber, 0.25 x 127 x 79 inches
Elizabeth is returning to Cathedral Square. Recently, Elizabeth has worked as a fiber artist, using traditional techniques and materials. Her 2014 entry, “Random Thoughts”, is part of her “Karma” series exploring connections between color, shape, line and balance. Karma, in this sense, refers to the idea that for every cause there is an effect. This relates to the way Brandt improvisationally constructs quilts without initial sketches or templates. With each piece of fabric included or removed, it affects other elements in unexpected ways.
What is your background?
I worked in advertising as an art director, then as a freelance illustrator for many years. I've only been working on my own art for the last 4-5 years. It's taken awhile to adjust to having no client parameters for a given project, except what I set up for myself.
What is your preferred medium and why?
I was doing occasional hand-quilting as a hobby when I discovered an artist, Nancy Crow, who teaches improvisational quiltmaking as an art form. I had played around with pastels and paints, but never fell in love with them enough to get very good at them. But for some reason, pulling out my piles of colored fabrics really gets my imagination going and I can spend endless hours cutting and sewing. I use no patterns or sketches--the piece is created and recreated from moment to moment and can change dramatically up to the end--I find that both challenging and exciting.
What style/genre do you most identify with and why?
My work is abstract and I am drawn to the era of abstract expressionism of the 1940s and 1950s. This group of artists didn't follow a set of "rules" to create their work, they have no cohesive style--each artist found a way to make the materials express his or her individual voice. Some of my faves from this period are Motherwell, Kline and Gottlieb.
Do you have a favorite artist? What attracts you to that artist's work?
I love many artists, but in addition to those mentioned above, I especially love Calder, Klee and Miro for their beautiful colors and shapes. All three have a playful, yet mysterious quality to their work.
What is the hardest step in creating work?
The easiest part is the start, the excitement of beginning a new piece. The hardest part is in the middle, when I face the tough work of figuring out how to actually sew what has come together on my design wall. At that point, I can get bogged down and start second guessing myself--everything all looks terrible at that moment. If I get stuck in that mind state, I can spin my wheels for days.
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