Artist CV
About
Studied: Scripps College, B.A. International Relations 1983, Maryland Institute College of Art, M.F.A., Rinehart School of Sculpture 1994
Currently lives and works between Santa Ana, CA and New York City, New York.
Elizabeth Turk has received international attention for her complex and intricate marble sculptures leading to a MacArthur Grant award in 2011. In 2013 she was awarded a SARF Fellowship at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, where she had access not only to the Smithsonian’s collections but their equipment as well. 1 Wendletrap and 16 Cowry are a direct result of her Smithsonian Fellowship. They are photo based artworks connected to her sculptures in many ways – blending complex components from science and nature through her art.
X-ray and photography methods were used to expose the layering of shell structures (from the Smithsonian) which in turn reveal the strength and beauty seen in the sacred geometry of her subjects. Microscopic photographs of shells reveal the delicate calcium carbonate structure of each shell. Such imagery shows patterns that seem stunningly familiar. Mandalas, crosses and other sacred symbols that are hidden in the sand beneath our feet and in the marble and stone are the foundations of so much of civilization’s monuments and art.
During the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship I was granted access to the Smithsonian’s collection and advanced scientific equipment, at the Natural History museum the Sackler Freer Galleries. It was incredible. The freedom to play ignited my curiosity and my creativity. I took full advantage. Not knowing where the research would lead was an extraordinary element of the opportunity. By deconstructing rocks and shells from my artistic point of view; I could engage with science to deepen the explanation of my material conceptually. In the end, this new body of 2-D work blends past obsessions with new directions. The process has grounded the philosophical, even spiritual ideas of my alphabet, marble. Examining stages of the geologic history, exposed wondrous imagery. I use these “snapshots” to capture moments in the evolution of what we take for granted.
In addition to being a MacArthur Grant recipient, Turk has appeared in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is included in the permanent collections of the Mint Museum of Art (North Carolina), Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washigton, D.C), the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, D.C.),the Bechtler Art Museum (Charlotte, NC), and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA.