Mystic Strings

photo by daphne waldo

So, Elizabeth, what kind of art do you do?

'I paint to discover…what I try to do with my art is to make visible what otherwise cannot be seen. The emotions we feel as human beings, which fill us up, overflow, spill out and drain us completely in a perpetual spiraling process are my subject matter. I want to paint my own feelings as the urge to see precedes the longing to understand. My painting helps me understand the mystery of myself. I use figures and faces as my starting point; then I let the painting process take over and enter a zone of fluidity where consciousness dissipates and the unconscious permeates. The final products are called mystic strings.'

Elizabeth Stokkebye lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area. This fall of 2008 Elizabeth has entered the PhD program with the Scandinavian Department at UC Berkeley and she plans to write her dissertation on art and gender and modernity. Her heritage is Scandinavian, and she holds a BA from UC Berkeley in Scandinavian Studies and a MA from University of Washington in Scandinavian Languages and Literature. She received her formal art education at Monterey Peninsula College, from where she has an AA in Studio Art. She also studied oil painting at UC Berkeley.