Details:

This series of oil paintings focuses on circular voids, or “portholes.” In this painting, the porthole reveals a grid of shimmering squares that resemble bathroom tiles and are interrupted by a green, bacon-like form. Floating periwinkle loops frame the circle, almost as if they were angels, while the painting’s colors and patterns reference 1980s pop culture designs like Trapper Keepers.
Unframed
Signed

① Artwork:

Learned to Play

This series of oil paintings focuses on circular voids, or “portholes.” In this painting, the porthole reveals a grid of shimmering squares that resemble bathroom tiles and are interrupted by a green, bacon-like form. Floating periwinkle loops frame the circle, almost as if they were angels, while the painting’s colors and patterns reference 1980s pop culture designs like Trapper Keepers.

Liz Ainslie’s abstractions draw from observations and memories of disparate elements. The artist first makes en plein air drawings in the natural landscape. Then, she reworks them in her studio using photographs of architectural surfaces and patterns as additional references.

Specs:

40 inches
48 inches

③ Artist:

Liz Ainslie

Liz Ainslie’s abstractions draw from her observations and memories of disparate elements such as 1970s interior decor, the upstate New York landscape, My Little Pony, and ancient Greek wall paintings. The artist first immerses herself in natural landscapes, where she makes drawings from observation. Then, she reworks them in her studio using photographs of architectural surfaces and patterns as additional references. These elements come together through a palette of colors harvested from both past and present.

Liz Ainslie was born in 1978 and lives in Brooklyn, NY. She received her MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA (2004) and her BFA from Alfred University in Alfred, NY (2001).

She has mounted solo and two-person exhibitions at Good Naked in New York City, NY (2022); SARDINE in Brooklyn, NY (2020); Transmitter in Brooklyn, NY (2017); and the Cohen Gallery at Alfred University in Alfred, NY (2017).

Ainslie has participated in group shows such as La Banda at Tappeto Volante in Brooklyn, NY (2023); It’s Never Over at St. Charles in Baltimore, MD (2023); Golden States at SPRING/BREAK Art Show in Los Angeles, CA (2022); Shifting Instinct at The Ekru Project in Kansas City, MO (2022); Mei-(1)+Mei-(2) at ZXY Gallery in Brooklyn, NY (2022), Blurring Boundaries: The Women Of AAA, 1936–present at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, CA (2022); Transmissions at Underdonk in Brooklyn, NY (2021); and others.

She was a visiting artist at Trestle Projects (2018) and a resident artist at the Millay Colony for the Arts (2011) and the Atlantic Center for the Arts (2006).

Liz Ainslie:
Learned to Play, 2022
Oil on canvas
48.0 × 40.0 inches /