ELENA MOGORIAN PUTLEY
About me
I was born in Moldova.
I live and work in Harrogate, UK.
My work exists between the real and the imaginary, representation and abstraction. I explore beauty, chaos and predictability of urban landscape built up gradually over time. Some cityscapes and landscapes are derived from my travels and firsthand observations, while others are from images found online, showing how specific locations are drawn together by their similarities, which are surprisingly bigger than their differences. I combine traditional painting techniques with less conventional methods: laser etched drawings and grid-system structures applied over pre-painted surfaces. Through the rendering of colour, texture and composition, I focus on atmosphere, memories and connections.
My parents both worked in the building industry. My mother is a retired civil engineer and an architect. My father was in charge of one of the largest building company in Moldova. So perhaps I have inherited their fascination and understanding of spaces, buildings, structures and planning.
My grandparents built their own house when they where young, and they kept extending it as their family was growing. One of my early childhood memories is a group of young women standing in the big tub outside of my grandparents house and mixing the mortar for clay bricks using their feet, just like they do in winemaking. The house is still standing and my family is still living there.
I am intrigued by a sense of time, change and history that is associated with different places. Although it is not obvious in the finished paintings, I believe this sense of history, planning and its change is a strong influence on my work.
Education
1980-1982 Art Foundation in Repin College of Art – Moldova.
1983-1989 Degree in sculptural ceramics at Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts of Moldova, Kishinev
2000-2002 MA in Art and Design, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
Exhibitions
National and International exhibitions:
2021 Sunnybank Mills Gallery, Leeds
Summer.Somewhere.
2021 Art in the Mill gallery, Knaresborough
Green Shoots - group exhibition
2020 Art in the Mill gallery, Knaresborough
Solus - group exhibition
NY Open Studios 2019, Harrogate
2019 Positive Emotions, Kunsthuis Gallery, York
2018 Kunsthuis Gallery, York
Our eARTh exhibition 2018, Group exhibition
2018 Sunnybankmills Gallery,
Neighbourhood, Group Exhibition, Leeds
2017 Anise Gallery. Nasty Women: Architecture
13a Shad Thames
Group Gallery
2017 Kunsthuis Gallery
Shades of Clay
Group Exhibition
2017 Merser Gallery, Harrogate
Harrogate Open 2017
Group Exhibition
2016 Treasure and Relish, Ripon, North Yorkshire
Solo Exhibition
2015 Sunny Bank Mills, Leeds
Group Exhibition/Competition - Highly Commended.
2015 North Yorkshire Open Studios, Harrogate
2014 “From the collections of Moldova’s Museum of Fine Arts”, Kishinev, Moldova
2013 “Harrogate Open” Group Exhibition
2007 Gascoigne Gallery, Harrogate
2002 Group Exhibition “To be confirmed” Leeds Met University Gallery, UK
1998 Harrogate Gift Fair, Students exhibition.
1994 Solo Exhibition, Culture foundation, Bucharest, Romania.
1993 Commission for the International Ionesco Theatre Festival, Kishinev
1992 “From the collections of Moldova’s Museum of Fine Arts”, Bucharest
1991 Moldovan Artists at 17th Cinema Festival, Cinema Center, Moscow
1991 Collection of Sphinx Gallery, Strasbourg, France
1991 Group Exhibition at Coral Gallery, Kishinev, Moldova
1991 Group Exhibition in Galati, Romania
1990 Artist in residence in Dorohoi Porcelain factory, Romania
1990 Group Exhibition of Young Moldovan Artists, Sicily, Italy
1990 Group Exhibition “ Experiments”, Kishinev
1990 Group Exhibition in Iasi, Romania
1990 Spring Art Exhibition, Kishinev, Moldova
1989 Group Exhibition “In Eminescu’s memory”, Kishinev, Moldova
1987 Autumn Art Festival, Kishinev, Moldova
My works are featured at the National Art Museum of Moldova along with many private collections in Moldova, Russia, UK, USA, France, Holland, Romania, Germany, Israel, Sweden, Turkey, Italy, Greece.
