Elaine Fleck
Artist Statement
The textiles of different cultures are an expression of the wearer’s spiritual beliefs, culture, tradition, and interdependence with nature. With these influences and through the use of printed, multi-layered fabric, I have formulated a technique that allows me to accomplish my vision of merging my love of nature and specifically plants, with my love of painting. What were originally hand-embroidered scenes are now paintings with a background that I have created from man-made prints. My favorites consist of Indian batiks, insect prints, bird and plant motifs, vivid flower prints, and recently fabric with printed words. Each painting has as its foundation pieces of cloth placed with matte medium which give my work a textured quality and as the painting unfolds, I meticulously incorporate the patterns in the cloth and oil paints to bring the images into focus.
My inspirations come from complex designs in nature, whether they are the wavy lines in an armadillo’s skin, the patterns in a seashell, or the multi-colored blooms in my summer garden. There is an endless array of patterns in nature that I incorporate with oils to create my paintings and I continue to be inspired and fascinated by this process.