BIO
After receiving a BFA in Painting from Metropolitan State University of Denver, I moved to Salt Lake City where I taught secondary art at Utah International for eight years, worked with Promise SSL in a community arts context, and create public artwork. In my own painting practice. I create work inspired by the Great Salt Lake, environmental issues including the inversion, and Utah's unique landscapes. I am inspired by decay and beauty, the environmental impact of colonization and capitalistic systems, pushing the boundaries of landscape, and the complexities of life here in Utah.
STATEMENT
As an artist practicing and living in Utah, I am especially transfixed by the beauty of my home. I love the diversity of the land and how experiencing different landscapes can transport my emotions and perceptions into another realm. I’ve connected with the beauty that lies here more than I’ve connected with most people. Our mindset is transformative to our environment; reflecting that in my work is my goal. Unfortunately, toxic and divisive environmental factors affect every aspect of our lives, especially in the winter months along the Wasatch front. Inversion conditions trap pollution caused by transportation, area sources and industry into the bowl of the valley, and we are immersed in a dense, gray, poisonous fog, sometimes for weeks. Looking at our home through the inversion is like looking at something loved through layers of translucent, grimy filters. The gray toned air completely changes the light. The mood throughout the day is somber and the polluted air feels heavy. The inversion changes the way we see our home, it blocks and obstructs our view and our perceptions. The effects are visually, emotionally and physically tangible. You can taste it. Eventually, day after day of inversion and thick gray pollution becomes an ominous, all-encompassing feeling that we all live within. Attempting to capture this feeling by creating layers of collage, acrylic paint, ink, mylar, oil paint, and various mediums on top of colorful landscapes at first felt like a mission and visual challenge, but the act of repeatedly concealing something beautiful turned into more of a burden. Covering the bright and prismatic color of the initial underpaintings with these hazy layers created a heavy heartedness that was not expected, especially knowing that it doesn’t have to be this way. As an artist interested in environment, place, and landscape and emotional connection, viewing my home through the veil of the inversion created an interesting opportunity to challenge my art making practice, but also the conceptual meaning of my work. I would like to continue to work on developing this environmental focus, especially during this politically charged time. By abstracting, combining, and manipulating images, the work becomes more about my perceptions than the places or subjects themselves. Using saturated colors and allowing the paint to drip and combine creates a dream-like quality, and stylizing the elements of the subject, pushing line and color, evokes emotion rather than specificity. My work is process based, and the medium guides the work. Creation of beauty and mark-making are as important as the image.
CV
Education
2015 Masters in Nonprofit Management, Regis University, Denver, CO
2009 BFA in Painting, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, CO
Professional Experience
2022 Craftoberfest Barrel Project for Dented Brick Distillery. SLC, UT
Personal Landscape Painting Course in Ballinglen Art Center. Ballycastle County Mayo, Ireland
2021 Three Creeks Confluence Panel. SLC, UT
Craftoberfest Barrel Project for Beehive Distillery. SLC, UT
2020 Muybridge Bison BLOCKS Kiosk Project. Main Street, SLC, Utah
Artists for Hope, Sugarhouse Installation. SLC, UT
Utah Division of Arts and Museums Grantee, Painting Class Instructor, Sorenson Unity Center, Salt Lake City, UT
2019 Craftoberfest Barrel Project, Sugarhouse Distillery, SLC, UT
2018 South Salt Lake Arts Council, Adult Art Instructor, South Salt Lake, UT
2017. Promise South Salt Lake After School Art Instructor, UICS, South Salt Lake, UT
2017 - 2018 Adaptive Art Instructor, Salt Lake County, UT
2016 - 2017 Site Coordinator, Historic Scott School Arts After School Program, Promise South Salt Lake, UT
2015 - 2017 South Salt Lake Arts Coalition Chair, Promise SSL, South Salt Lake, UT
2015 - 2016 Community Art Coordinator, Promise SSL, South Salt Lake, UT
2015 - 2016 Community Art Educator, “Claim It” Our Town Project, Sorenson Unity Center, Salt Lake City, UT
2014 Artist-in-Residence through Utah Arts and Museums, Bluff Elementary School, Bluff, UT
2013 - Current Secondary Visual Art Teacher, Utah International Charter School, Salt Lake City, UT
2012 Artist-in-Residence through Utah Arts and Museums, Bluff Elementary School, Bluff, UT
2011 - 2013 Secondary Visual Art Teacher, Cottonwood Youth Academy, Salt Lake City, UT
2010 - Current Teaching Artist, Utah Arts Council, Salt Lake City, UT
2010 Project Guuleysi, Art Liaison, South Salt Lake City, UT
2008 - 2009 Meininger Art Supply, Fine Arts Department, Denver, CO
2008 Directed Studies in Monet’s Gardens, Artstudy, Giverny, France
Exhibitions - Solo Shows
2019 Keep Breathing, DrawINC, Salt Lake City, UT
2018 Breathe, DrawINC, Salt Lake City, UT
2011 Environment, Foothill Anderson Branch, Salt Lake City, UT
2010 sight/insight, Pleasant Valley Branch Library, Ogden, UT
Kink, Paintings by Elisabeth Bunker, Fresh, Salt Lake City, UT
2008 Botanica, Crow Feet Coffee shop, Castlerock, CO
Invitational Shows
2022 AIR, Utah Museum of Fine Arts. SLC, UT
2018 Extra Credit, CVA 965 Gallery, Denver, CO
2010 Twenty Four Hour Show, Hive Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
2009 Figure It Out, Theory and Practice Gallery, Denver, CO
Group Shows
2020 Fall Poor Yorick Open Studio, South Salt Lake, UT
2019 Spring Poor Yorick Open Studio, South Salt Lake, UT
Fall Poor Yorick Open Studio, South Salt Lake, UT
2018 Spring Poor Yorick Open Studio, South Salt Lake, UT
Fall Poor Yorick Open Studio, South Salt Lake, UT
2012 Figuratively Speaking, UAF Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT
2009 Falling in Love with a Stranger, BFA Thesis Exhibition, Center for Visual Art, Denver, CO
Wildwood Bash, Ogden Nature Center, Ogden, UT
2008 Des Colores: Students of Carlos Fresquez, CHAC Gallery, Denver, CO
Paintings from Gardens, Artstudy, Giverny, France
In the Gardens, Alliance Francais, Denver, CO
Secret 3rd Annual, Union Station, Ogden, UT
Wildwood Bash, Ogden Nature Center, Ogden, UT
2007 What About the Animals? MSCD, Denver, CO
Secret 2nd Annual, Union Station, Ogden, UT
Juried Shows
2016 Urban Arts Festival, Salt Lake City, UT
2010 Utah Arts Festival, Salt Lake City, UT
2009 Park Silly Arts Festival, Downtown, Park City, UT
Ogden Arts Festival, Historic 25th Street, Ogden, UT
2008 Metro Now, Emmanuel Gallery, Denver, CO
Urban Nature, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
Ogden Arts Festival, Historic 25th Street, Ogden, UT
Murals
2018 City on the Move Mural, South Salt Lake City, UT
2018 Utah Coffee Roasters Mural, South Salt Lake City, UT
2016 Triangles, Trax S-line, Salt Lake City, UT
2016 Graduates, Utah International Charter School, Salt Lake City, UT
2015 UICS – Utah International Charter School, Salt Lake City, UT
2013 You are your own Odysseus, Odyssey House, Salt Lake City, UT
2012 Price Mural, Cottonwood Treatment Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Arches Mural, Cottonwood Treatment Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Alpine Mural, Cottonwood Treatment Center, Salt Lake City, UT
2011 Dandelions, Bonwood Bowling Alley, South Salt Lake City, UT
Galaxy, Cottonwood Treatment Center, Salt Lake City, UT
2009 Vegetables and Flowers, Oasis Community Garden, Ogden, UT
2008 Cultivate, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
Float, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
Three Birds, Ogden Parkway, Ogden, UT
Winter Birds Mural, Private Residence, Ogden, UT
Vintage Sunflowers, Historic Residence, Ogden, UT
2007 Music and Dance Mural, Multicultural Center at MSCD, Denver, CO
Children Playing Mural, Lumberg Elementary, Denver, CO
Lalo Delgado Tribute Mural, MSCD, Denver, CO
Publications
2019 15 Bytes, A Captivating Curse: Elisabeth Bunker explores Dirt, Inversions and Beauty at DRAW, Inc. February
2018 Catalyst Magazine, HEAL Utah and Draw INC Present: Breath Exhibit by Elisabeth Bunker. Salt Lake City, February
2015 South Salt Lake Journal, September Monthly Issue, SLC, September 2015
2011 The Metropolitan, MSCD Student Newspaper, Denver CO, May
2008 El Semianario, Weekly Publication, Denver CO, Issue 11, Page 4
Awards
2021 Craftoberfest Whiskey Barrel Painting Competition, Salt Lake City, UT
2019 Craftoberfest Whiskey Barrel Painting Competition, Salt Lake City, UT
2009 Nagel Art Thesis Award, MSCD, Denver, CO
2008 Mural Appreciation Award, Lalo Delgado Poetry Festival, Denver, CO
Collections
2009 Vicious Dog Press, MSCD, Denver, CO
2008 Float Study, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
Cultivate, Quigg Newton Community Garden, City of Denver, Denver, CO
Metamorphosis, Quigg Newton Community Garden, City of Denver, Denver, CO
Volunteer
2013 Odyssey House Adolescent, painting You are your own Odysseus with residents, Salt Lake City, UT
2008 Nature Center Mural, designed and painted with teen volunteers, Ogden, UT