Biography

Ellen Hallie Schiff

I began my oil paintings about female attraction and power about a decade ago with smaller works depicting high-heeled shoes and then a series of lipsticks.

Drawn to the infinitely fascinating aspects of the female body, I embarked on a series of almost life-sized paintings using myself as the model. I was influenced during this time by the work of Francis Bacon, Egon Schiele and the figurative works of Richard Diebenkorn and Nathan Olivera.

As I continued to paint, I became entranced with the abstract work of Diebenkorn, Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko among others.

The idea of combining the Figure with abstract elements began to evolve in my paintings, and I embarked on my “Elemental Id” series of large (60x48) paintings based on one composition treated a number of different ways.

Along the way, I have evolved a style of painting and working that seems to suit my temperament. I paint very quickly, covering the entire canvas using a palette knife. I paint in short bursts of activity of 30-90 minutes. I let the painting dry for a week or so, while considering where I might go with the work the next time I approach it. I repeat this process as many times as necessary in order to feel finished with the work-generally about 3-5 weeks.

I continue to paint the Expressive Figure with abstract elements, as well as continuing my purely abstract paintings.