‘Openness’ through art
Meet artist Elizabeth Glaessner, showcasing works in Lower Manhattan
BY BOB KRASNER
“The feelings that I
want to convey … I
don’t always have the
words to describe,” explains
painter Elizabeth Glaessner
amidst the large, beautifully
painted and somewhat mysterious
canvases that make up
her solo show at the P.P.O.W.
gallery in Lower Manhattan.
Titled “Phantom Tail,” a
reference to the artist having
been born with a protruding
tailbone, the show consists of
lusciously painted images that
give the viewer a glimpse into
the world inside the painter’s
head, while leaving one to
come to their own conclusions.
“I am trying to convey a
sense of openness, strength
and freedom in the fi gures, but
there is not any sort of moral
code or message to take away,”
Glaessner says. “I like to keep
them open so that people can
bring their own experience
into it.” There have been times
when others have commented
on what they saw in a work in
progress, leading Glaessner in
a different direction and adding
imagery that she originally
had not considered.
“I allow the painting to tell
me where it’s going to go,”
Glaessner muses. “They are
never exactly how I think they
will be.”
Although the paintings have
roots in classic work by painters
such as Edvard Munch
and Odilon Redon and can
claim the infl uence of “mythology,
sculpture and art history,”
Glaessner has her own style.
She notes that the images
“all come from personal experience
— not necessarily illustrations
of specifi c events,
but the feelings of those experiences
that channel through.
Anxiety, fear, stress – things
experienced in my childhood.”
In fact, Glaessner began
drawing when she was young
to deal with some unfortunate
trauma experienced in her
“chaotic childhood.”
She has come a long way
since she sold her fi rst watercolor
to a friend for $200.
Artistic ambition led her to
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
switch to oil on canvas, which
she calls “more of a commitment
— by the time you’ve
prepared the canvas, you’ve
already done a lot of work.”
She works on a number
of pieces at once, sometimes
leaving one for awhile and
then returning to it to reassess.
There tends to be an arc
that Glaessner experiences,
which goes like this: “It starts
out great and then hits a point
where I question everything.
But I always know when
it’s fi nished.”
Wendy Olsoff, one of the
founders of P.P.O.W., gave
Glaessner her fi rst solo show
in 2014. Discussing the work,
she mentions the progress that
the artist has made since then.
(Above) Elizabeth Glaessner at the P.P.O.W. gallery. (Left)
Glaessner contemplating her work “Two Sphinxes.”
“The content now is much
more focused, as is the palette,”
notes Olsoff. “However,
there is still a lot in common
with her early work which always
focused on the body and
it’s relationship to nature and
fl uidity between realms real
and imagined. She is now more
experienced and confi dent and
it really shows. It took a lot of
work to get where she is, but
she defi nitely evolved through
a lot of experimentation.”
Art collector Amanda Rubin,
who has been following
Glaessner since that fi rst show,
owns several of the artist’s early
pieces. Rubin spent much
of her time at the opening
marveling at the new work.
“I fell in love with her work
immediately!” she exclaims.
“I love the richness of the colors
and the powerful, dreamy
images that are mixed with
PHOTOS BY BOB KRASNER
an undercurrent of sexuality.
They depict a lush, sensual
dream state that is still
connected to the earth.”
“I’ve been creating this
world as a psychological investigation,”
Glaessner explains.
“They are not illustrations of
specifi c events. I became interested
in creating a parallel
world and people will see
in it what they want to see. I
hope that people will understand
the struggle that goes
into making the painting and
know that it’s ok if you don’t
get to where you wanted to go.
I’m not interested in creating
a perfect painting. It’s more
about the journey.”
“Phantom Tail” runs
through March 22 at the
P.P.O.W. gallery, 392 Broadway.
More info at ppowgallery.
com and Glaessner is on
Instagram at @eglaessn.
24 March 10, 2022 Schneps Media