This body of work is from the past four years.  I initially wanted to work quickly and
experimentally and started on panels that were smaller in scale from my past work.  The 
paintings were allowed to be about various themes and I was just waiting to see what would
develop.  It has seemed like a tragedy has been taking place for the United States and I have
been a witness to it.  These paintings reflect a quiet but kind of frantic voice.  I try to come up
with a contemplative state of mind when I do these.  The ups and downs and transitions of life
are included as themes.  The personal, the political, and sometimes even the spiritual are my
subjects.  I think the work is an attempt to maintain my own composure through the act of
painting.  These paintings, from 2017 until the present, reflect the natural world and question
the challenges to humanity that threaten values I hold close.  It is hard to live in such a
divided country.

In March of 2020 we all started to realize the implications of this pandemic and life shifted
dramatically.  The pandemic forced the recognition of social injustice of all kinds.  Police
brutality and BLM has been quite a force in Richmond and the protests were very real and have
affected our city directly.  "Painted Prayer" and "Lift Up" are about the pandemic and the
response of the protests.

Once I have a theme in mind, I create a palette using oil paint and cold wax.
I am using color, shape, and form in a process of abstraction.  Mark making is intuitive and
very direct.  The paintings happen in layers, in stages before they reach completion.
The paintings are records of a period of time for me personally as well as for what is happening
in the world.

Elaine Rogers 2024