(1955 - 2015)

In her encaustic and oil paintings, Ellen DeLoach works the surface of her artworks with great care, developing layers of color and texture that yield dense images spanning the figurative and abstract, and often coming close to pure Color Field painting. DeLoach’s work attests to a special interest in the Old Testament’s “Book of Ruth,” which addresses themes of kindness and one’s moral, familial duties. “I hope my viewers see these women not as victims, but as survivors who may have seen tough things in their lives but have overcome it and grown and moved on,” she says. Her works invite comparison with other artists interested in themes of memory and survival, such as Sam Francis, Joan Mitchell, and Anselm Kiefer.