The geometric abstractions of Brooklyn-based painter Elise Ferguson embrace an inherent materiality and have a distinct object-like quality. Inspired by Louis Kahn’s uncamouflaged use of cement, Ferguson uses sculptural materials, including metal, pigmented plaster and ink on MDF panels, as a means of creating illusory space and preserving a series of incidents and compositional actions. While certain works allude to representational elements found in nature or the studio, Ferguson also creates pieces that are purely abstract—optical interactions of grid, line and concentric circle.
“When composing, I rely on geometry as a language, but use it intuitively. Once marks are made and first colors chosen, the progression of the composition becomes something of a call and response. Step-by-step things get improvisational, each new gesture springing from the last. I work until the image says stop...” This improvisational process yields to work that is cerebral yet physical, work that reflects Ferguson’s endless fascination with materials and their physical limits and capabilities.
Ferguson has had solo exhibitions with Halsey McKay Gallery, White Columns, Envoy Enterprises, New York and at Illinois State University. Her works have been included in exhibitions at Luhring Augustine, Team Gallery, Dieu Donne Papermill, The Sculpture Center, Andrew Kreps, and CRG Gallery, New York; Bowdoin College Museum of Art in Brunswick, Maine, Fourteen30 Contemporary, Portland, Norwich Gallery, England, Lothringer Dreizen, Munich, among others.
