Amy Ellingson's Abstractions for a Virtual World at Robischon Gallery

Now at Denver’s Robischon Gallery, Amy Ellingson has a thought-provoking solo exhibition. Ellingson’s title, “Sweetbitter Beast” refers to ancient Greek poet Sappho's Fragment 130, translated by Willis Barnstone.

“Eros loosener of limbs once again trembles me, a sweetbitter beast irrepressibly sweeping in.”

For Ellingson, this quote expresses the juxtaposition of opposites, something she seeks to embody in work that melds the lightning speed of digital manipulation with the painstakingly meditative crafting of layered work. The exhibition showcases her complex, multi-layered paintings, etchings, and sculptures.  

Ellingson builds highly detailed scale models of each upcoming exhibition space, so she can design her installation to be site specific. Using brightly colored oils and encaustics, she creates a visual language reminiscent of both ancient alphabets, like cuneiform or hieroglyphics, and the innards of a motherboard. Her shapes are both digital and primal. Her forms are initially drawn, then manipulated on the computer into repeating geometric patterns, then painted onto canvas, etched into prints, or shaped into sculpture. “My goal is to create works that address the intersection of abstract painting and contemporary virtual experience,” she says. Ellingson’s layers of pattern create tactile, dimensional works of rich complexity.

Four concurrent exhibitions are also on view in Robischon’s other gallery spaces, featuring contemporary artists Ted Larsen (NM), Marcelyn McNeil (TX), Kate Petley (CO) and Katy Stone (WA). Including wall-mounted sculptures crafted of salvaged steel, strikingly brilliant and mysterious oil paintings, and curiously delicate, yet industrial installations, they are well worth exploring.