Elysia Nagel
‘SIMPLE LIFE’
Oil and acrylic on canvas.
Framed in Tasmanian oak.
54cm x 54cm.
Elysia Nagel, Eaglemont, Victoria
www.artbyelysia.com
@elysia_nagel
Born and bred in Gippsland and living on Phillip Island, embedded a strong love for nature within my soul. Nature has always been my biggest influence, inspiring me to paint over fifty pieces, also capturing thousands of artistic photographs.
I view myself as a self-taught artist as I only completed the first year of my Bachelor of Visual Arts, my subjects being Photography, Printmaking and Art History.
After my first year, I deferred for 12 months to live in Scotland. Upon returning home, I moved to Phillip Island where I immersed myself into the prominent local art scene. This is where my art life truly began.
I tend to be quite spontaneous when I’m painting. I like to utilise more of my body, rather than traditional easel painting. Normally I will lay my canvas flat on the ground or up against a wall, then apply a base layer to my canvas, and go with the flow of the paint. I don’t usually set out with a clear idea in mind, but my process usually involves a lot of vigorous and sweeping brush strokes, along with distorted forms, exaggeration, texture and bold colours. I am however, experimenting with more control at the moment, which is evident in some of my recent works. My paintings are an expression of colour, texture and movement. I describe it as abstract art.
My photography process is quite different. I express myself by going out into nature and looking at the simple objects in the environment and creating something different by using the elements of design to change the shape, colour or the orientation of the object. My photography is a reinvention of objects in the environment, taking an ordinary everyday element of nature and turn it into an interesting piece of art.
The end result is always to achieve interesting, conversational and emotive pieces of art work. Through my art, I aim to encourage a different perspective and help conceptualise a guide to view the world differently. My aim is to create discussion and generate appreciation for design elements. I love to create an experience and invite the viewer to interpret their own ideas about my work.