Elena Greco

E l e n a G r e c o

ART

Big Sur 1987

(My Gallery is currently under construction, but will be up very soon!)

Art is a direct link between higher sensory creation and perception and the concrete expression of those images as a communication. By viewing the art of another person, we can experience his or her inner world for a time and the deeper communications that are of importance to them without the usual filter of culture and prejudice (Greco 2005).

My art is an expression of creativity that seems to occur at a mostly unconscious level for me. If you had asked me in the past why I had to draw a particular thing, I would not have been able to answer you. I am primarily a self-taught artist, so my technique is unusual and not perfect or correct and is usually unacceptable to technically trained artists. I did not have the opportunity to study art when I was young, but I did take a couple of art classes in college. The teachers seemed a little interested in my work but always seemed to find it lacking because it did not conform to their ideas of "good art" and my self-taught technique did not meet with their approval. I knew at the time that to do what they wanted would be to corrupt the whole point of what I was trying to say in my art. However, I didn’t know that on a conscious level, so felt ashamed at my lack of artistic sophistication. Because no one seemed to like my art and only seemed to want to change the thing that I needed to express, I judged it unacceptable, and eventually I stifled the desire to make art. I stopped drawing 25 years ago, and gave up photography over a decade ago.

Several events in my life over the last few years have rekindled my drive to make art, so I am bringing my old art out of the closet on these web pages, and am letting myself begin to speak this language again in whatever form it takes, whether charcoal or acrylic or photography. The new art will appear gradually on these pages, as well, in the near future. I am an amateur to be sure, but is it not alright for an amateur to be creative, too? At this point in time, it is not my intention to be a "good artist," but to provide a medium for myself for pure creativity in a language that goes beyond words. If my struggle with this medium resonates for someone else, I am glad if my struggle helps them. If my art brings pleasure or insight or sparks creativity for someone else, that gives me happiness. If it does not, I still choose to let my muse speak, as creativity in its many forms is, I believe, the most important force in evolution, both personal and societal.

My photography is not palatable to everyone. People would sometimes say, "Why did you make the photos so dark? Did you make a mistake? We can’t really see the trees." It is not the "tree-ness" that interests me, it is the shapes. It is the shapes that I love; they feel like music to me. My photographs are about shapes and lines and colors in nature that are beautiful and speak to me. I don’t care so much what something is in terms of its categorization as how its essence looks and feels.

People would sometimes say, "Why are your charcoal drawings so dark?" They are not used to seeing so much black on the paper. I know that this is not the characteristic look of charcoals. Good artists do not draw this way. But it is not the detail of the drawing that interests me, although my drawings are sometimes quite detailed. It is the shadow and light that I love; they tell a story beyond what appears on the surface, and offer a richness far beyond the detail of the subject. Without the shadows, you cannot really see the light. I feel a strong need to express the light in my drawings, and the richness and depth and mystery of the shadows, and that is why my drawings in the past were sometimes so dark.

REFERENCES:
Greco, Elena (2005). Intercultural Exchange through Language and the Creative Arts: A Bridge to Cultural Empathy and Harmonious Relations Between Americans and Latinos.