"Sweet/Sweat" Painting

Elizabeth Coffey is a Richmond, Virginia-based mixed media artist, working primarily with oil paint, lace fabric and canvas.

A central theme to her work is the tension between the seen and the unseen. As a figurative painter, she’s chosen the representation of the female form as a primary means of exploring that theme and its relevance to female identity.

Often working from found photographs, she’s drawn to images of women with a peaceful presence that may belie underlying currents of emotion and desire. She sees a reflection of the hidden nature of her own emotional life, which she’s intent on expressing.

She often paints on lace fabric, which is symbolic of traditional domestic roles and accepted forms of creative expression for women. Lace also serves as a veil to true identity, and subtly references the universal female experience of covering, and cautiously uncovering, parts of the self that may not be readily embraced by our culture. She learned sewing and needlework from her mother and grandmothers at an early age, and it feels comforting and refreshing to incorporate these traditional materials, pushing them beyond their intended use. A lifelong love of language figures into her current work as well.