PRESS RELEASE
ELLÉNA LOURENS: Too Far From Sea
Mar 2 – Mar 31, 2023
Everard Read Cape Town is delighted to present Too Far From Sea, a solo exhibition of new works by Elléna Lourens.
Artist walkabout will take place at 11:00 on Saturday 18th March
In her latest solo, artist Elléna Lourens uses her signature colour palette to explore the loneliness in freedom – and conversely what we can learn from its grasp.
Lourens describes this series of portraits as evolving from a sense of being far from home, moving as she recently has between her birthplace in Cape Town, the United States and soon Europe. With her solid tones and delicate lines, Lourens explores tidal shifts in the self driven by the feeling of growing up, leaving, and returning to find that your childhood home is no longer your home.
Travel can mean we are too far from the familiar things and people through which we have been always able to centre ourselves. As our horizons expand, Lourens discovers, a new centre of gravity can however be built within the self. While we may be aware of the sense of isolation caused by distance, we can also nurture our own potential in this newfound power.
Elléna Lourens is a South African artist. She began working on personal and collaborative creative projects from a young age, and has subsequently developed a distinctive style which is highly engaging and contemporary. Throughout her practice, the artist has continued to explore creative outlets which contribute and complement her unique style, such as illustration, street art, painting and embroidery. Her style draws on the past in its representation of ancient symbols, patterns, and colour schemes, while voicing an intuitively contemporary aesthetic that resonates and seeks to redefine emotional iconography. Her use of reduced colour palettes and bold shapes creates a dynamic conversation between her depiction of human connection and the emotive qualities of colour. She has immersed herself in the creative world, working alongside established artists, as well as furthering her own practice, taking part in shows and creating murals both in South Africa and abroad.
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Installation images by Michael Hall
