Artist's Statement
I believe an artist has a unique opportunity to create an experience that might not otherwise exist, to bring together the observed and the imagined, to make an unexpected connection, or simply to draw attention to something that might have gone unnoticed.
My work begins there, with attention.
I am interested in what happens when we really look, at the way light falls across an object, the particular character of a bird, the geometry within a landscape, or the relationships between things that may never occupy the same space outside of a painting. I don’t expect art to change someone’s mind. What I can offer is an opportunity for observation, and the possibility that observation might cultivate curiosity, belonging, or awe.
My approach to painting is inseparable from my background in design. I studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating in 2003 with a focus in graphic design, and spent the next two decades working in graphic design, branding, and advertising. That career taught me much more than composition. It taught me to build visual language, to distill an idea, create meaning through juxtaposition, understand how hierarchy directs attention, and consider how an image can communicate before a single word is read. The same creative thinking that once shaped brands and campaigns now informs the worlds I construct within my paintings.
Painting gives me the freedom to take that visual thinking somewhere less prescribed. Observation can become invention. Familiar subjects can enter unfamiliar relationships. Something seen in the natural world can become the beginning of an idea rather than its boundary.
It is also how I examine the world and understand my own ideas. Painting keeps me curious. The longer I spend with a subject, the more it reveals, and I want the finished work to retain some of that capacity for discovery.
I hope a painting can be lived with much like a good book can be reread. Years later, it might still offer something that wasn’t noticed before. The painting hasn’t changed. The person looking at it has.
That possibility is at the heart of my work, not prescribing what someone should see, but creating something worthy of their attention.
Artist's Bio
Elizabeth Gunter is an artist, graphic designer, and entrepreneur in search of creatives. Raised in New York City with one foot in New Jersey, her exposure to the fine arts began young. This grew into a deep appreciation for poetry, photography, and painting. An art scholarship drew her to Chicago, and then a fateful road trip carried her to Southern Utah, where she fell in love with the red rocks beneath stark blue skies.
Elizabeth’s greatest triumphs include her two adorably precocious children, working with national brands, making beneficial imprints on the world, and opening ART Provides, her very own studio, event space, and gallery in a stunning historic theater. Here she hopes to create connections through art, both inside the minds of individuals, between small groups, and within larger communities.
In addition to her artistic endeavors, Elizabeth started Art Broker Utah with a fellow artist to help bridge the gap between local artists and the commercial and residential spaces that need them.
Away from a canvas, Elizabeth enjoys travel, exploring the great outdoors, meditation, and meeting mindful, open, authentic people. She swears in Spanish when surprised, breaks into solo dance parties to release stress, and obsesses over fancy inks. She can’t help it. Art supplies and those who use them have her heart.