Elizabeth Thach
MFA ’10 Fine Arts 2D
My work explores intellectual history and material culture. My imagery is informed both by futurist speculation and past (experienced) visual motifs: the video games of the 80s and 90’s, the patterns of the archeological artifact, urban ephemera and Greek and Roman ruins. I am looking to create images that are familiar and simple but that speak to the strangeness of reality. I also draw from the things I see and hear working as an administrator in science during the week. Mathematical notation on blackboards is a recurring motif. But my day job has also affected my art practice conceptually: being surrounded by non-artists engaged in passionate knowledge acquisition has encouraged me to think about how the practice of art compares with other forms of labor.
Elizabeth Thach (born Canada, 1974) is visual artist and curator based in Boston who incorporates painting, sculpture, and craft elements in bodies of work that challenge traditional discipline definitions and examine material culture. Her work has been recognized and awards include the Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Grant, a Berkshire Taconic Foundation Artist Fund Grant, the Weitzel-Barber Art Travel Prize, the Vermont Studio Center Individual Art Fellowship, and the George Nick Painting Prize. She received an MFA from MassArt, and a BA with a studio art major from Vassar College.
