Elizabeth Topham

Instagram: elizabeth_topham_studio

Rubus armeniacus is a painting series that speaks to the overall theme of entanglement and the act of painting. Making marks with paint, I aim to capture a visceral experience of the notion of entanglement regarding blackberry brambles as subject matter and the structural aspects of oil paint. The subject matter reflects the physical and mystical complexity of entanglement in Mother Nature: the patterns of growth of the canes, captivating fruit and the seemingly random chaos of the brambles overall. This physical and mystical complexity is a metaphor for our entanglement with self, others and nature.

Elizabeth Topham is a Canadian visual artist based in Vancouver where she lives and works. Inspired after a couple years of backpacking through the U.K. and Europe she returned to Vancouver to study at Emily Carr College of Art + Design. She was awarded the Carter-Begg Scholarship for painting in her second year and graduated with a Diploma in Visual Arts in 1991. Her interest in nature led her to study at Atlin Centre for the Arts on a Tuition Scholarship with guest artists Irene F. Whittome and Al McWilliams. She returned to Emily Carr University of Art + Design graduating with a B.F.A. in 2008. She received an Honourable Mention for her painting, Self-portrait @ age 47, for The Kingston Prize for Canadian Portraiture 2013. Her art practice explores human nature, particularly themes of entanglement, captivation and mysticism, using the nature as subject matter and metaphor in her paintings.