SEPTEMBER 2021 | EVA ISAKSEN | HERE NOW
Eva Isaksen, Small Steps, collage on canvas, 36 x 48
EVA ISAKSEN
Here Now
Opening September 2, 2021
Eva Isaksen’s newest body of work carries a deep sense of gravitas, a level of self-assurance communicated through the simplification of the abstract. Continuing her explorations in collage, Isaksen incorporates physical elements of significance from her life; personal textiles, letters, and clippings of favorite texts are layered within steady forms and a sophisticated palette. Describing the works as reflecting her search for the unknown, there is yet a grounded calm in her quest.
Isaksen’s confidence in her artistic voice is strong here. There is a sense that she has reached a significant moment of resolution in her work and life that provides a cohesion to the pieces in Here Now. Says Isaksen “Life is short and I feel an urgency to fully embrace it. There are so many more ways to work and evolve [...]. The work has its own narrative, glimpses of stories, history and memories but ultimately it is about form, space and abstraction. It’s also about a place where the intuitive becomes one with all the experiences collected from a lifetime as a working artist."
Eva Isaksen, Summer Follows Spring, collage on canvas, 48 x 48 inches
Eva Iskasen holds an MFA in Painting from Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, as well as a BFA from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD. Isaksen studied at the Nordland School of Arts & Crafts Narvik, Norway. Isaksen's artwork has been exhibited international including at Galleri G. Guddal, Rosendal, Norway; Galleri Bodøgaard, Bodø, Norway; Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA; US Embassy, Brussels, Belgium; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; and Museo de los Pintores Oaxaquenos, Oaxaca, Mexico. Isaksen has also shown her work extensively across North America, has been a recipient of dozens of awards and public art commissions, and was a founder of Seattle Print Arts, Seattle, WA. She has participated in artist residencies across the world, most recently at Tare Steigen Air, Tare Art Center, Steigen, Norway and at Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Bally, Ireland. Her work is part of dozens of private, public, and corporate collections including those of the Boeing Corporate Headquarters, Chicago, IL; Hilton Hotel, Seattle, WA; Seibu Department Stores, Funabashi, Shizoka Higashi, Totsuka, Japan; Goldman Sachs, New York, NY, and the United States Embassy in Riga, Latvia.