Elizabeth Gourlay

Elizabeth Gourlay explores the nuances of color and form in her abstract paintings, works on paper, and prints, which she compares to musical compositions: “Looking at the work is a dynamic interaction and the eye moves around the piece element to element, as musical note to musical note. The result is a play of tones, chords, dissonances and harmonies.” Though her works are composed of grids, lines, and geometric shapes, evidence of the artist’s hand is everywhere apparent—in feathery graphite lines, whose edges dissipate into the soft background washes of pigment; in playfully staggered bands of color; or in squares and triangles that actively intersect or sit side-by-side, rubbing edges. Gourlay intentionally incorporates warmth and gesture into all of her works, whose layered vocabulary of abstract forms emerges from her thoughts, emotions, and observations of the world.