Gail Elwell

Solid forms grow out of ephemeral patterns of light, shadow, wind and branch as sculptor Gail Elwell scavenges raw materials from her garden and wraps them in gut and recycled papier-mâché, creating works of remarkable transformation and wistful expressiveness that transcend their humble components. Her materials of choice link the works to the dynamism of the natural world from which they come, enabling the piece and its parts to act as literal and figurative depictions of erosion and change in form. The world of the made and the world of the born are both embraced within Elwell’s organic process. Her pieces surpass objectification and take on movement and life despite the dried elements which indicate stasis. Her artful solidifying of natural elements evokes skin pulled over bone, animal-like hides and tree-like beings which convey both transience and permanence concurrently — growth and decay movingly contained within one object.

Gail Elwell currently lives and works in Maryland, teaching art and constantly refining her mixed media technique.