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Elissa MorleyElissa Morley grew up on the Space Coast of Florida and attended Asbury University and the Slade School of Fine Art in London, England. She has lived in Lexington for several years, teaching at Georgetown College, Eastern Kentucky University and Asbury University. She is also a recipient of a 2009 Kentucky Foundation for Women Artist Enrichment Grant. She has work in a number of private collections and has exhibited internationally.
Delights: Bathing In Another World
by Elissa Morley Ritual bathing as a symbol of purification is found in almost every culture across the world. What is it about the human psyche that requires this action? And not simply the action, but a ceremonial place for this action to be performed? My work reveals places of spiritual rest, renewal and purification, many of which contain elements of water alongside natural and architectural forms. Pools, fountains, ponds, baths, and even the ocean within the landscape have the sense of existing expressly for ritual purposes. They, alongside bridges, gardens, geodesic forms and colonnades become metaphors for spiritual relationships, transformation and growth. The suspended wing forms emerge from this realm assisting the viewer toward wholeness. They are helpers that lead the viewer into a place that brings about purification of the soul. May you allow yourself to enter into these places of healing and transformation. May you enter into these places of tranquility and rest. To create a soft, delicate glow I employ translucent materials such as watercolor on layered tracing paper, creating a similar soft, fragile appearance. Small intimate works have lead me to make wax paintings, short films and larger human-scale drawing and painting installations, but I return again and again to drawing and the two-dimensional surface. It is essential. Education
P.G.C.E. 2004 (Postgraduate Certification in Education), Secondary Art Goldsmiths College, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6AH England M. F. A. 2001 Painting, Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, London WC1E 6BT England B. A. 1998 Art, Minor in English, Asbury University, Wilmore, Kentucky 40390 (Cum Laude) Solo Exhibitions 2015, Delights: Bathing in Another World, Ann Tower Gallery, Lexington, Kentucky 2012, Foyer Design, University of Louisville Dental School, Kentucky 2011, Fountain: A Place for Tears, Lexington Art League, Kentucky 2010-2011, Vision: Things That Fly, Weston Art Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio 2008, Recent Work by Elissa Morley, Asbury College Art Gallery, Wilmore, Kentucky 2008, Horizon, Unit Two Gallery, Lexington, Kentucky 2006, Mystical Utopia, Cochenour Gallery, Georgetown, Kentucky 2006, Tuska Center of Contemporary Art, Lexington, Kentucky 2001, The Young Artists Exhibition, Mary Ogilvie Gallery, St. Anne’s College, Oxford, England Group Exhibitions 2016, The University of San Antonio Art Gallery, San Antonio, Texas, (forthcoming) 2015, Here and Now, The Lexington Art League, Lexington, Kentucky 2015, Meet the Art Department, Asbury University, Wilmore, Kentucky 2015, Illumined Ground: Contemporary Landscapes, Lexington, Kentucky 2013, Tributaries, Asbury University, Wilmore, Kentucky 2012, New Beginnings, Asbury University, Wilmore, Kentucky 2011, Validated, Mary Rezny Photography Gallery, Lexington, Kentucky 2010, Alternate Selves, Lexington Art League, Lexington, Kentucky 2010, Drawing On, Tuska Center for Contemporary Art, Lexington, Kentucky 2006-2009, Frankfort Center of Education, Frankfort, Kentucky 2009, Freedom, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky 2008, Anonymne, Drawing Exhibition, Berlin, Germany 2007-2008, Faculty Biennial Exhibition, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky 2007, 50th Chautauqua National Exhibition of American Art, Chautauqua, New York 2007, Generation Next, The Loudon House, LexArts, Lexington, Kentucky 2007, Everything’s New All the Time, Unit Two Gallery, Lexington, Kentucky 2007, The Artist Prepares, Georgetown College, Kentucky 2007, The Nude International, Lexington Art League, Kentucky 2006, Interspace, Georgetown College, Kentucky 2004-5, Foosaner Education Building, Brevard Museum of Art and Science, Eau Gallie, Florida 2003, Commission, Congressman David Weldon, Painting, Palm Bay, Florida 2002, Commission, Zion Christian Church, Vestment, Palm Bay, Florida 2001, The New Bloomsbury, Scarlet Maguire Gallery, London, England 2001, The Slade School of Fine Art Degree Show, London 2000, The Slade Postgraduate Interim Show, London 1999, Chautauqua School of Art Exhibition, New York 1999, The Nude, Lexington Art League, Kentucky Work in Private Collection Mrs. Cathy Ferrell, Indialantic, Florida Gissings Limited, Moorgate, London, England Mrs. Joy Holland, Chattanooga, Tennessee Dr. Alison P. Newton, Washington D.C. Ms. Carolyn Sesbeau, New York, New York Dr. Tabitha Zimmerman, San Diego, California Mr. and Mrs. Wayne, Cincinnati, Ohio Dr. Jacob Affolter Mr. and Mrs. Crone, Eerie, Pennsylvania |