The suggestion of meaning: an interview with realist painter Eliza Moser
In Eliza Moser’s work, there is a sense of quiet presence, a deliberate and grounded reverence for her subject matter. Her works are simple yet fully and completely executed with feeling. There is a shyness and delicacy, yet at the same time a sense of understated assertiveness to the work, that speaks its message and mood with subtle elegance.
Moser is one of the recipients of the 2024 Rising Star Prize from Era Contemporary Gallery. In this interview, we open the studio door and get a glimpse of Eliza’s working method and background. Read on for the artist’s own descriptions of her inspiration.
Where are you located, and from originally? My studio and gallery is currently located in South Hadley, Massachusetts, in a lovely walkable area called The Village Commons. This is where I work, as well as teach art classes and workshops.
I grew up not too far away, in Springfield, MA.
Tell us about your training and time in school(s) I was always drawn to traditional painting, realism especially, and as a child spent many hours trying to teach myself how to paint. When I was 14, I met fellow artist Christina Mastrangelo, who had just relocated after her studies in Florence, Italy. Christina became my teacher and mentor, instructing me in academic methods of drawing and introducing me to oil paints for the first time. With her encouragement, I later enrolled at the Florence Academy of Art at the age of 19, and followed in her footsteps by studying in Florence.
What inspired you to paint the subject matter you do? When I first began painting, Still Lifes were my main focus, mainly because my “models” were always available to me and would sit still for as long as I needed them to; but portraiture and figurative work was always the goal. I think humans relate to other humans on a deeper level than any other subject, especially at an emotional or psychological level, and these are the types of responses I’m looking to elicit from my work.
How important are materials to you? What are some of your favorite materials? Personally, I like to keep things relatively simple: a limited palette, linen panels, my favorite brushes, or even just pencil and paper. Experimenting with new materials can be fun and create interesting effects, but it comes with the risk of unfamiliarity. I enjoy the confidence that comes with using tried and true materials with which I am familiar, and I find this allows me to create my best work; occasionally, I have enjoyed mixing things up with charcoal, pencil and conte, but only because the specific piece called for the qualities of those mediums, which I couldn’t create with paint. Maybe one day I will get bored and push the envelope more, but for now, I am content.
What is your process like for creating a work? It always starts with some spark of an idea, which could be something as trivial as seeing a person in a certain pose, or even turning over the meaning of a word or concept in my mind. But usually, it is something visual. This turns into a loose little sketch in my notebook, where it will stay for some time until I’m ready to pull it out and explore it some more.
Next, I bring in the model, to take reference photos. This can sometimes be the most devastating part, because sometimes how we picture things in our head is not really conducive to reality. But I try to stay as close to my original sketch as possible, and take lots of photos to work from.
After I have a series of photos to pick from, I sort through and pick the best ones, and sometimes borrow elements from each of them. I make thumbnail sketches from these images, and spend a good deal of time on the composition before diving into the real thing.
After all that planning, I can finally paint the full-sized work. If I’ve put in the work and set myself up well in the previous stages, I generally have nothing to fear in the actual painting process.
Are there other meanings that go deeper than immediately visible in your work? While a good deal of the immediate meaning in my pieces arises from the literal subject matter, I have always tried to imply more. One of my favorite tools in painting is actually mystery: I don’t like the meaning to be too obvious, nor do I want the piece to feel like an intellectual exercise. I am primarily concerned with how the piece “feels”, and I find the suggestion of meaning, rather than filling in all the blanks for the viewer, allows them to bring their own meaning to the piece along with anything I may have intended.
What artists from the canon of art history have influenced you as you develop your work? When I was young, Michelangelo and Vermeer were my two most revered artists. The two may seem lightyears away in mood, style and subject matter, but both captured my imagination and sparked my interest in human stories. I’ve expanded my appreciation for vastly different styles and genres over the years, but these two still feel closest to my heart in terms of the types of ideas I strive for in my own work.
What is your favorite thing about your creative process? My process takes time. The world we live in is so fast paced and everything is so instantaneous, it is often tempting to dive headfirst into a new piece without planning, or to try and finish the painting in one go. Those approaches are ok for fun, but if I am treating my work seriously, my painting will go through many stages before it is finished. And that requires hours and hours of living with the unfinished piece, building it, contemplating it, and exploring new ways of looking at it as they emerge. The amount of time a piece takes allows me to really slow down, and that brings a lot of peace into my life.
Share a beautiful moment in your art career from the last few years. Truly, one of the best feelings is when a painting goes to a home where I know it will be truly appreciated. When I create a painting, among the many things I am trying to say is simply: “I feel this”, which can be incredibly vulnerable. So when a buyer acquires a piece, especially one that has great meaning to me, it feels incredibly gratifying to know someone else shares these feelings.
Earlier this year, a painting I created about the COVID-19 pandemic was acquired by the New England Visionary Artists Museum of Northampton, MA. The director expressed to me his sincere belief that it is “an important piece.”, which was very humbling for me. Simply knowing your work moves others beyond yourself is one of the most beautiful experiences an artist can have.
How do you think traditional techniques and modern art might combine? Truly, the sky’s the limit here. There are so many masterful contemporary realists artists these days who already are combining traditional techniques with modern aesthetics, ideas, materials, and subject matter. I love to see people pushing the envelope, as artists always have, and I think it is important that contemporary paintings touch the lives of people alive today, rather than simply looking like an imitation of a traditional painting; that being said, I am more concerned with timelessness, than being modern. I want work that will still resonate with people for decades to come, and to quote an old saying, to be modern is to be dated.
What are you looking forward to creating this year? My goal for this year is to paint bigger; after opening my studio last September, I finally have the space to paint a series of large, figurative works. I hope to touch upon some concepts that are universal to the human story, but also bring a fresh take to things. My sketchbook is brimming with ideas, and I cannot wait to bring them to life.
See Eliza Moser’s work at https://www.elizamoser.com/
Follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/elizamoserfineart
Article by Jessica Libor, director of www.eracontemporary.com
