Louisa McElwain’s paintings tell her story in vivid swaths of color and light that dance unyielding across the canvas. Not merely a catalogue of her career and life, they chronicle the artist’s journey into the heart of the Southwestern landscape. They recount her transcendent experience with subject and medium, even as they become a narrative about energy, its genesis, and eventual manifestation on canvas.
An innate desire to channel nature’s magnificence lay at the center of McElwain’s work. Through thick, heady strokes of luminous pigments, she managed to build a connection among physical, spiritual, and external forces in two dimensions. To achieve this, she harnessed the paint’s ability to capture and suspend energy—a gift made visible in the rich hues, intricate light play, and variety of textures that fill every piece.
