Liz Mitchell
Artist Statement
Driven by the vitality of an active imagination, I have explored the use of a wide range of
materials from plastics to paper, to paint and found objects. My work considers the
visual complexities of time-effected surfaces and the transformational potential of
materials. I abstract the book form to contain and present items from nature, both real
and fabricated, and in unusual settings.
My attempt is to transcend the pedestrian nature of objects through my processes of
surface design and alteration. Cutting, tearing, painting, waxing and layering denote an
outward physical process. A visceral response to transformation, texture, surface and
structure characterize the intended seduction.
“I am on a walk in the woods and I find a small piece of an insect, or seedpod, or nest. I
am inspired by lichens, peeling paint and rusted surfaces. I feed my soul in the moments
when I study the small details and realize their connection to all life. It is in the smallness
that we find importance and hope.”
In 2001, I was an Artist-in-Residence at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. I collaborated
with the Experimental Printmaking Department on a visual book about my family’s
history and their connection with the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Newark, NJ. This
book was included in a traveling exhibition, which began at the Binney and Smith
Gallery at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem PA and then traveled throughout the United
States and Costa Rica.
In 2003, I began working on a book-making project to recount the journey of my great
aunt as a missionary in China 1941 through 1951.
Liz Mitchell
October, 2003