Mahler Gallery
Raleigh NC
April 2018
Elizabeth Bradford is descended from generations of North Carolina farmers and her work reflects an inherited preoccupation with the land. In recent years she has explored wild places as a naturalist and backpacker. Many of her paintings are based on her experiences of the wilderness.
Drawing inspiration from children’s book illustrators, she renders the truth in an allegorical, heightened form causing the viewer to guess at secret narratives. Among her other influences are the Pattern and Decoration movement of the 70’s, the innovations of late 19th century European painters, and the formal structure of Abstract Expressionism. All of this is rendered in brushwork expressive of both expansive energy and a calculated mediated precision.
“Entanglements” is an exhibition of new work from Elizabeth Bradford running concurrently with another showing of her work at The Umstead.
Press
Painting the Permanent Raleigh Magazine