Girl with hula hoop / ancient cave by Liz Davis

I feel most alive when I am creating a work of art. It is a way of connecting to the world; moments of my creation tap into a universal and recurring act of creation. I create art to connect to the world and the people around me. My art meets a deep need to understand what I see and perceive in the moment and along the paths I’ve travelled. I love having “conversations” with other artists-both current and past. Looking at other artwork creates a conversation, perhaps without words but with one of image, perception and experience. Working on my own paintings I am often continuing these conversations in color, line and form. One of the most rewarding aspects of painting is finding that a painting of mine has touched someone and changed how they look at their surroundings or an experience. My work speaks with an interesting and often bold sense of color, and with very gestural brushstrokes. Before painting, while painting, and after a painting is done are different forms and stages of meditation for me. My hope is that this experience speaks through my work. I am inspired by sources from the ink paintings of Zen Buddhism to the abstract expressionists from Giotto to Matisse; from the earliest cave paintings to the thrill of a child’s first finger painting.

Education: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI BFA, 1994 College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI Kyoto-Seika University, Kyoto, Japan School of Visual Arts, NYC, NY

Awards: Grand prize Michigan Fine Arts Competition 2011

Collections: •Three pieces in the collection of the Bank of Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI) •In the collection of Greenpoint Landings ( a LLC consortium that includes the Rockefeller Group) (NYC, NY) •The Henry Ford Health System (Detroit, MI)