Elizabeth Wittke, born in Fort Wayne, IN, currently lives and works in Tucson, AZ. Growing up in the rural Indiana countryside, she spent an inordinate amount of time drawing. She attended the University of Saint Francis and American University in Washington, D.C.

Wittke is best known for her surrealistic figurative oil paintings and intimate still lifes. Her figurative paintings are of people she knows and the objects depicted have a personal value, and are often linked to her childhood experiences in the Midwest. Wittke creates primarily in oil, but also occasionally uses acrylic and mixed media.

____________________________________________

Artist Statement

I paint women that I know and objects that are meaningful to me. I keep asking how one can feel a connection to the numinous in everyday life. Sometimes I see that connection in the folds of cloth or the play of light through the leaves of trees or the way water moves around one’s hand. I paint slowly with a monochromatic underpainting to give it a sense of interconnection. Then I gradually add color, in thin layers, drawing out the unnoticed colors that reflect between it all. I paint women that I know and objects that are meaningful to me. I keep asking how one can feel a connection to the numinous in everyday life, such as in the folds of cloth or the play of light through the leaves of trees or the way water moves around one’s hand. I paint slowly with a monochromatic underpainting to give it a sense of interconnection and gradually add color in thin layers, drawing out the unnoticed colors that reflect between it all. Through painting, I use these ordinary encounters to explore a sense of connection, presence, and wonder.