Elliker, Paul

Eyestorm

Painting

A major part in the process of making these paintings is the manipulation of found imagery. I appropriate images from popular-culture sources including children’s book illustrations, greeting cards and school textbooks. Once chosen, selected images are scanned into a computer, manipulated and enlarged onto canvas. The works are often painted using flat acrylic colour to emphasise the artificiality of the original source material.

My contact with the natural environment has become increasingly detached and limited to visions created through such media as television, Internet, billboard and magazine. This detached experience of the natural world, highlighted in the 21 st century, has been recreated and designed throughout the history of landscape art. This is shown in the calculated constructions of Poussin and Lorraine along with the conventions dictated by the Academies. It is this experience of nature that helps to inform my landscape paintings.

The culture in which I live has developed the idea of what I will call landscape templates. These landscape templates are in place and ready to act for anyone as backdrops for products, or, as the product itself. Found in almost any location or medium these templates are heavily contrived and embedded in our cultural consciousness. Landscape templates are now so prevalent; it is not uncommon for one to look at any given natural scene and to subsequently tap into one of the many stereotypical landscape templates available. This framing and familiarising of the natural scene is something that I try to use to my advantage when making my landscape paintings.

Recently, I have been working on a series of paintings focusing upon illustrations of geological phenomena. The analytical nature of the work conflicts with traditional representations of the landscape. In contrast to Romanticism’s religious symbolism, the paintings respond to our environment, in which the natural world is processed, packaged and consumed many times over.

2005 Polished T Gallery Launch, Liverpool
2005 The Group Show, Philips Contemporary Art, Manchester
2004 John Moores 23, The Walker , Liverpool
2004 MMAS, Art Basel Miami , Florida International University
2004 The Ambassadors Philips Contemporary Art, Manchester
2003 Grosvenor Museum 5th Open Grosvenor Museum, Chester
2003 Imaginary Realities Philips Contemporary Art, Manchester
2002 Belle Vue Philips Contemporary Art, Manchester
2002 Liverpool 8 Senate House, Liverpool University
2002 Group Show The Gallery, Sausmarez Manor, Guernsey
2002 Plastic Journeys Hub Cafe Gallery, Liverpool
2001 N A P A Open Exhibition Black Sheep Gallery, Wales
2001 Choice Morsels Philips Contemporary Art, Manchester
2001 The Tomorrow Gate The britart space launch, London
2001 The small work show View Two Gallery, Liverpool
2000 How i learned to paddle my canoe, Birmingham

1999 D’ya want fries with that? Custard Factory, Birmingham

Art Fairs

2005 Manchester Art Fair, G Mex Manchester
2005 Frankfurt Art Fair 2005, Frankfurt

2004 Manchester Art Show, G Mex, Manchester
2004 London Art 2004, represented by Philips Contemporary Art
2003 Art2003, Business Design Centre, London
2002 Affordable Art Fair 2002 , New York
2002 Art2002, Business Design Centre, London
2001 The Affordable Art Fair 2001, Battersea, London

Awards

2005 N.A.P.A Award
2002 N.A.P.A Award

Selected Publications and Reviews

2005 Flux, Issue 48 – The Phoenix Rises
2004 John Moores 23 Catalogue
2003 Belle Vue Metro North September
2002 Carnival of Sorts I-D magazine (the Bedroom issue) Sept No.213

Collections

2005 Manchester City Art Gallery Patrons Loan Scheme
2004 Manchester City Art Gallery Permanent Collection