I felt it was appropriate to use an 'old' process, such as painting, to address current processes or technologies. Systems, digital imaging, scans, photocopies and data glitches are a small part of larger strata of visual surveillance about ourselves and the world around us.

In the 21st century we are shaped by information. The ceaseless flow of data in and around our lives has become seamless with our perception it. This is especially apparent with respect to history. Technology renders history as something endlessly under construction. The past is subject to investigation, re–interpretation, splicing and editing. Consequently, various distortions and interferences of information occur whether intended or not.

By displacing images from the past into the present, I wish to accentuate those distortions and changes; reconstructing various historical works where some information has been duplicated, altered, or is missing altogether. These altered historical sources help show history being transformed into a kind of abstract data. Our attempts to construct a reliable understanding of the world form a constantly shifting composite; a tenuous, fragmented, image where neither the past nor the present exist without the interference of the other.

Brad Ellis is a mid-career, Texas-based artist whose focus is on abstract painting. Throughout his career he has continually experimented with imagery from tightly rendered, systematic patterns too loosely constructed, expressionistic compositions. He has distinguished himself by embracing the ancient medium of encaustic which is hot wax painting and is a process by which heated bees wax is mixed with pigments and applied to board or canvas and then fused to the surface with a heat source. The pure physicality of the paint combined with various collage elements render distinct textures and surface treatments that energize his abstract imagery with movement and excitement. 

Brad earned his BFA from the University of Tulsa and his work is represented by several art galleries across the country. His paintings are included in many prominent private and corporate art collections and is included in the U. S. State Department’s Art In Embassies Program, where his work is displayed in the Ambassador’s residence in Kampala, Uganda. As well, his paintings are featured in two books, Texas Abstract, Modern + Contemporary, published by Fresco Books and Encaustic Art In The Twenty-First Century, published by Schiffer. He was recently commissioned to be a Facebook Artist In Residence at their new office in Austin, TX, where he completed two large-scale murals.  

In life, one thing I’ve learned is that we are all forced to face unexpected/undesirable situations. Often times, the experiences can weigh heavy on us and load us down, making us question our ability or strength to get through to the other side.

Over the last year, my husband and I have truly been tested with this type of mental barricade. Situations that were out of our control changed the very course of our lives and all we had planned for our future. Initially, I could only see the trials and tribulations before us including everything that was lost, the hard work that it would take to recover and the frustration of feeling helpless over all of it. The word overwhelming was an understatement. However, as monumental as those hard times were, we did the only thing we knew to do. We kept pushing forward and fighting to retrieve what was taken from us. It was a choice we had to make, to look beyond what laid directly in front of us, blocking our path, to search and accept the new course that life provided us. We did that by putting our sights on the horizon. To empower us with hope by working toward a future that we knew will be as wonderful, if not greater than the one we had originally planned for. Best of all we have discovered through all of this, that together, we can face anything that is thrown at us. We WILL prevail and are anxious to discover what awaits us, BEYOND the horizon.

This entire exhibition depicts many of the experiences and emotions that my husband and I have been through on this journey and my hope is that the horizontal (horizon) lines in some of the pieces, serve as a reminder to the viewer that there is always hope. No matter how great the ordeal, each of us embodies the strength to get through. I hope the messages will inspire others to search for the alternate paths that life may set before them, rather than being stuck at the crossroad. We must keep moving forward because there’s always beauty to find on the other side of the struggle.

When the time comes that you are ready to look back on your journey, commemorate your strength, will and accomplishments. They will fill you with the wisdom you’ll need to face the next obstacle.