Elizabeth Gourlay

Elizabeth Gourlay is an American abstract artist whose work emerges from a progressive process of layering colour, lines and forms, informed both by inner emotional states and her observation of nature and architecture. She lives and works in Chester (CT).

Elizabeth Gourlay studied Drawing and Painting at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland where she graduated in 1983, she then went to Yale University School of Art (CT) where she earned an MFA in Painting.

Elizabeth Gourlay uses a wide range of mediums such as oil, flashe, acrylic, ink and graphite to create artfully simple and strong compositions. Her work usually begins with layering washes of colours, then followed by drawings elements. The colours are sharply and fully selected, using a wide range of colour palettes from almost monochromatic to greatly polychromatic.

Her paintings are metaphorical: some of her pieces allude to science by illustrating experiments with coordinate planes and bar graphs. Some refer to music with shapes defining sound and colour defining volume. Furthermore, some paintings suggest history and culture with covering layers of apparent worn or shredded paper.

The use of line suggests influences from Agnes Martin while her play of colour reminds Paul Klee’s work. Elizabeth Gourlay's compositions deal with order and chaos using line, colour and shape.