Studio practice

Elena Vance

Working between Brooklyn and coastal Maine, Vance develops large-format paintings through repeated applications of ground earth pigments, cold-pressed walnut oil, and raw charcoal over unprimed Belgian linen.

Material philosophy

Linen and pigment

Each support is constructed by hand using kiln-dried tulipwood stretchers and heavy unprimed flax. Pigments are sourced as raw mineral earths and hand-mulled in deliberate, unhurried intervals to preserve granular light refraction.

Drying cycles extend across several months, allowing oxidation to alter the surface sheen naturally before final cataloguing and archival protective framing take place.

Institutional record

Selected exhibitions

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Basel Solo Survey (2024)

London Gallery Series (2022)

New York Project Room (2020)

Presentation of twelve large-scale panel works examining reductive tonal values, presented at Kunsthaus Arlesheim with an accompanying hardbound catalogue.

Monographic installation of ten charcoal-and-oil works on Belgian linen, acquired by private European foundations and institutional research holdings.

Debut solo exhibition in Chelsea exploring architectural scale and ungrounded pigments, reviewed in Artforum and collected across private American holdings.

Curator and collector visits

Private viewing room access and studio walkthroughs in Red Hook occur by advance appointment throughout the calendar season.