Monday Post 4-20-09

Elizabeth McGrath

Los Angeles-born artist Elizabeth McGrath has always had an eye for the strange beauty in the grotesqueries of life; this appreciation is nowhere more evident than in her work. Inspired by the relationship between the natural world and the detritus of consumer culture, she brings forth a new cavalcade of creatures from the darker corners of the streets, the city, the imagination. It is this melancholy interaction between man-made status symbols and suffering specimens of nature that make up her intricate body of work. Today she lives in Downtown LA with her hairless dogs Blue and King Tut, and her Husband Morgan Slade. They play together in the band Miss Derringer.

The play between the grotesque/offputting/awkward/doomed feel and glamour/beauty/extravagance in her art is what I feel most closely relates to mine. She creates sculptures that at first may appear very precious and beautiful, but upon further examination (or maybe more quickly) there seems to be something off about them. Something a little more sinister than little trinkets to put atop your dresser.

Website:
http://www.elizabethmcgrath.com/sculpture-Arlan.php
Interview:
http://sacredism.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=19
Gallery:
http://www.iguapop.net/