Elizabeth Murray

Elizabeth Murray's pieces border between the realm of paintings and the realm of sculpture. 

To create her art, Murray uses paint and her uniquely shaped canvases. 

In her works, Murray focuses on creating conflict and tension in a way that works by arranging her shaped canvases in various ways. Another goal of Murray's is to have her art communicate how a child plays. She wants her paintings to look as if a child had arranged them like if they were blocks. 

Many of Murray's paintings are abstract in form. Her canvases are both organically and geometrically shaped and are placed in non-representative formations. Murray's pieces as a whole are cartoon like due to the bright, bold colors she uses and the playful shapes her canvases take on. Her paintings are three-dimensional in quality since they jut out of the wall, which is the reason why people may have trouble labeling Murray's art as either paintings or sculptures. 

Sometimes for artists, it can be easy to give up on a piece when it doesn't look like it'll turn out well. This isn't the case for Murray, though. She'll keep working at a piece until "the right thing happens". 

Information provided by:

"Elizabeth Murray." Art21. PBS, n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.