For a person like me who engages daily with the confusion and cacophony of feeling and thought, simplifying my canvasses feels a bit like cutting off a body part. Still, it seems a worthy goal, a kind of meditation, something like concentrating on breathing.

Taking a cue from the Minimalists—supreme simplifiers—I pared down my visual vocabulary to the basics—geometric form, color and flat surfaces. Then I added back what had to be there to satisfy me: pattern and metaphor.

The black and white form that repeats in each of these paintings is an artifact from my previous body of work (“Tangles & Conduits”). Its energetic, animate metaphorical qualities contrast strikingly with the abstract elements of color and line, and yet, these opposites seem to cohabit well. The little black and white squiggle insists on making its way, or making its peace with its setting, converting obstacles into nurse logs, adapting to each new environment.

--Ellen Goldschmidt
September, 2005