Elizabeth Knowles creates from experience and observation

Text by Michael Cobb
Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Knowles

Multimedia artist Elizabeth Knowles is intrigued by the beauty found in natural forms. Her work invites viewers to consider the connections between the macro and micro. For Knowles, the patterns of the Milky Way are just as interesting as the double helix strands of DNA. 

“I’m fascinated with the unfolding, vibrant energy of life that expands and contracts all around us. I really like to explore the static and dynamic patterns in nature, such as we see when walking in the woods in Norfolk, but also at a cellular level in a microscope, in the stars in the night sky, or photos from the Hubble telescope. I like playing with those scales of perception. Some are biological, geological, and some are planetary,” she says. 

Knowles has a BA from Pomona College, Claremont, Calif. and an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Ill. She has exhibited extensively in Manhattan and locally at Mass MOCA in North Adams, MA, and Five Points Galleries in Torrington. She often works with paint on canvas, but also with wire mesh painted with acrylic. 

Describing her process she says, “A basic component involves discovering a pattern that connects discrete elements and enables the creation of a larger unified whole. This echoes how living cells grow and aggregate overtime with other cells to enable emergence of complex organisms. Cutting, bending, twisting strands of wire, one component connecting with another…long hours of detailed repetitive processes become meditative, even hypnotizing.”

Recent projects include site specific installations. “A lot of my work is in response to how a particular place calls me,” she says. 

Her sculpture entitled “Shell” is on display as part of a group show outside of Edith Wharton’s historic homestead, The Mount, in Lenox, Mass. until Oct. 14. At seven by four feet, it is suitably located on the grounds surrounding the estate. Intended for display in the summer of 2020, the exhibit was delayed due to Covid. The time lag allowed the piece to evolve from her initial vision. 

“Originally, it was meant to be open with painted rocks. But because of Covid, I changed it so that it became more internal and womb-like. I’m interested in how cellular organisms replicate and how different patterns interact with each other. I found the rocks on my walks with my dog Ursa, and they became a surprise inside. First, you see it as a large red vessel; when you get closer it looks like eggs about to hatch as if from a womb. It became a much more interior piece than I’d originally intended, which reflected my mindset due to Covid,” she says. 

The show at the Mount includes works by other artists, with a variety of styles from literal to more representation. Interestingly, themes of hatching, birth and change are consistent if coincidental among the other artists. “It seems like nests filled with things about to be born was a theme. I think we were all going through the same feelings about being in lockdown,” Knowles adds. 

When asked if the eggs are a symbol of hope for the future, she says, “Exactly. I play with these forms. Each individual rock could be an individual sculpture. Here it took on a different meaning. It was totally not intentional. It was like a self-portrait that I didn’t realize was happening.” 

It’s been ten years since Knowles and her partner Tom Murtha, a professor at Columbia University, moved to Norfolk. She was drawn to town by the close knit, creative community and the easy access to nature, in which she finds inspiration.

About Norfolk she says, “I love being able to wake up and go for a walk with my dog. We’ll hike for hours. I also love winter sports. I’ve spent a lot of time out west in Jackson Hole, Idaho. I love the grandeur there, but here you can spend time looking at smaller details like pine needles. You can see a more intimate connection with local woods and nature. The seasons change so much with the different weather patterns. And Norfolk has lots of really interesting people, which is a really nice surprise. It’s similar to finding the stones inside my womb-shaped forms. I’ve met so many remarkable and fascinating characters.”  

Knowles also has an installation at the WestBeth Gallery artist housing in the West Village of New York. Her work will be on display until Oct. 10. Following that, she will be installing works in the Allen Street Mall in the Lower East Side of New York City. 

For more information about Knowles and her work, visit her website at https://www.elizabethknowles.com