Eilene Carver

Fighting to Float

oil on panel

12 x 12 x 1

2023

Symbolic narrative is a constant throughout my work, primarily painting still-lifes, which employ symbolism through an evolving iconography of everyday objects.       

I depict items from the ‘American domestic landscape,’ crediting their ability to connect us to spaces and experiences which can be simultaneously personal and universal. My paintings are conscious reflections of relational and societal experience, revisiting most often themes of fate, betrayal, frailty, trauma, connection and the divine. I want my imagery to evoke curiosity and triggers a personal response to time, place, or experience for the viewer.

I am influenced by vanitas painters from every period and Frida Kahlo, for her honest personal expression. I enjoy portraying the subtle exaggeration of light and its effect on color, aiming to create a surreal realism in my paintings.

The shadow series does not waver from my general still life interests and intentions. As shadows increasingly have greater import in my compositions, I became interested in portraying their duplicitous nature.  Shadows can simultaneously reveal, mimic, shelter, loom, or deceive expanding opportunities for metaphor.