About Elizabeth Banker
Elizabeth Banker is an artist who seeks to convey the interconnectedness of the human experience through her paintings. Drawing on her personal experiences growing up in the mountains and her fascination with the mysteries of the universe, Banker creates works that are both spiritually and aesthetically engaging. Her artistic influences include a wide range of historical and contemporary visionary artists, and she sees her practice of painting as a way of exploring the universe of the mind and expressing the divine radiance within humanity. Through her paintings, Banker invites viewers to contemplate the deeper connections thatexist between ourselves, nature, and the cosmos.
My Experience
Elizabeth Banker’s paintings explore the overlapping realms of the personal and collective human experience through symbolic motifs. Elizabeth grew up in the small mountain town of Crested Butte, Colorado, which lies 9,000 feet above sea level in the Rocky Mountains. In 2008, she discovered purpose and passion within painting. This lead her to pursue a bachelors degree in Visual Art and Yoga at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. After graduating in 2012, Elizabeth moved to Europe to study at the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art in Vienna, Austria.
There she undertook intensive studies learning the skills and methods of a variety of renaissance and contemporary painters.Elizabeth’s works are inspired by her life experiences and her fascination with nature and human consciousness. Being raised in the mountains and holding a deep love for the mysteries of the cosmos continues to greatly influence her work. Merging the practices of yoga, meditation, and self inquiry cultivate the visions of interconnectedness within the spiritual and physical planes presented in her paintings.
Artists' Statement
“Painting is a practice I hold in high regard. I have always been fascinated with the limitless qualities of the universe, the mind, consciousness, spirit and the mystical experience. Art is a fantastic and expressive medium which demonstrates the culture of the spirit. Visionary art, in its communicative capacity, transmits consciousness on a level beyond ordinary thinking.
By creating evocative landscapes of humanity, I become open to an infinitely reflective portal of creativity.I have deep seeded appreciation for historical and contemporary visionary artists and their works. Gustav Moreau, Robert Venosa, Martina Hoffman, and Daniel Mirante are just a few examples of inspiring figures that have guided me along my path as an artist. These Visionary artists continue to contribute to the building and ripening of the potency of human consciousness. I am honored to be a part of the world they create.
The practice of painting generates a sense of limitless freedom for me to explore the universe of the mind. Throughout the hours and days of making a painting, there are ups and downs, stumbles and recoveries that emulate life experiences and the development of who we are.
Uncountable hours of sitting and observing thoughts while contemplating human nature is experienced. Simultaneously, the imagination plays with the discoveries and revelations that arise, to give form to the imagery with pigment. The process of creating a painting involves guidance from the heart’s intuition about space and form.
There is a divine radiance within humanity that is discovered and portrayed within each painting. I like to transcend the boundaries of the physical world by creating magical landscapes of imagery with mystical human and animal forms.The fruits of this practice arise not only within the joy, challenges and learning that occur through the process, but also in the physical world as visual expressions of the connection I see in the soul with the universe.
Studying and practicing Yoga and the Shambhala tradition have inspired my philosophies and subtle world visions. I paint the dark and light within. These works are the voice of my heart, a celebration and exploration of life and the infinite possibilities of human connection.” – Elizabeth Banker