About Elizabeth

Elizabeth Crisman was born and raised in Virginia and has lived in the Washington DC area for most of her life. She received a BFA in Ceramics from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA and an MFA in Photography and Digital Imaging from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD.
Ms. Crisman has exhibited nationally in group and solo exhibitions including Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, PA, and Brooklyn, NY. Ms. Crisman has been a fellow in various programs including… more

Body Assemblages

These chromogenic prints are torn and reassembled to represent the distorted and manipulated body. They are then sew together with needle and thread with what look like suture marks. These marks symbolize the lengths we go to reconfigure the human body for plastic surgery, gender re-assignment or even to repair what was deemed abnormal. These images are life size.
  • Karyogamy
    Karyogamy
    C-prints and cotton thread, 2007, 39” x 30”
  • Karyogamy (detail)
    Karyogamy (detail)
    C-prints and cotton thread, 2007, 39” x 30”
  • Entwined
    Entwined
    C-prints and cotton thread, 2006, 51” x 54.75”
  • Unconditional
    Unconditional
    C-prints and cotton thread, 2006, 43” x 30.75”
  • Cadere
    Cadere
    C-prints and cotton thread, 2007, 76 ½” x 32”
  • Untitled 1
    Untitled 1
    C-prints and cotton thread, 2006, 71” x 26.5”
  • Syllepsis
    Syllepsis
    C-prints and cotton thread, 2008, 41” x 47.5”

Fossil

This series uses modern x-rays that are then placed onto black and white photographic paper to create a large contact print/photogram. The x-rays of bones are placed similarly to how fossils of man kind are found in archaeological excavations. The use of modern bones that are anonymous is a personal look at someone and combining it with the idea of fossils makes many correlations with the past and future of humans. These are all life size.
  • Untitled (Hip and Leg)
    Untitled (Hip and Leg)
    Ink jet transparencies of x-rays, 2008, 26” x 11” x 3”
  • Spineless
    Spineless
    Ink jet transparencies of x-rays, 2008, Dimensions variable
  • Fisure (detail)
    Fisure (detail)
    Ink jet transparencies of x-rays and pins, 2010, 42” x 20” x 3”
  • Fisure
    Fisure
    Ink jet transparencies of x-rays and pins, 2010, 42” x 20” x 3”
  • Untitled
    Untitled
    Silver gelatin print photogram using x-rays. 2009, 24" x 72"
  • Remnants
    Remnants
    Silver gelatin print photogram using x-rays. 2009, 36" x 24"
  • Untitled (detail)
    Untitled (detail)
    Silver gelatin print photogram using x-rays. 2009, 24" x 72"
  • Untitled
    Untitled
    Silver gelatin print photogram using x-rays. 2009, 24" x 72"
  • Spine
    Spine
    Silver gelatin print photogram using x-rays. 2009, 18" x 24"

Archaeologic

This is a series of objects primarily made from slip cast stoneware. They reflect how objects are found at excavations and how they relate to the modern world. Knowledge is 300 modern wisdom teeth slip cast and placed into baggies. Teeth are one of the most commonly found fossil. While we currently have no need for them, I am philosophizing about fossils of modern man in the future. Recant are slip cast pieces of modern trash found along the Jones Falls and mill areas.
  • Knowledge
    Knowledge
    300 slip cast modern wisdom teeth placed in baggies similar to one's used on an excavation.
  • Knowledge
    Knowledge
    300 slip cast modern wisdom teeth placed in baggies similar to one's used on an excavation.
  • Knowledge
    Knowledge
    300 slip cast modern wisdom teeth placed in baggies similar to one's used on an excavation. 5' x 7'
  • Recount
    Recount
    detail
  • Recount
    Recount
    detail
  • Recount
    Recount
    Various pieces of modern trash found along Jones Fall and area mills. They were slip cast and bisque fired and placed in baggies similar to ones used in an archaeological excavation. 8' x 8'
  • Obsolete
    Obsolete
    Slip cast paleolithic stone tool replicas.
  • Obsolete
    Obsolete
    Slip cast paleolithic stone tool replicas. Dimensions variable.
  • Hybrid Pick
    Hybrid Pick
    Slip cast modern steel pick and deer antlers that were then joined and bisque fired. 11" x 13"
  • Hybrid Axe
    Hybrid Axe
    Slip cast modern steel axe and a paleolithic stone hand axe replica that were then joined and bisque fired. 7" x 11"

Generational

Using journals of my Great, Great Grandmother who came to America when she was 16 and my Great Grandmother who was 1st Generation American, I am creating work that relates past and present, old world and new world. Transferring their writings onto clay slabs like that of tablets in ancient times where cuneiform was inscribed, is a reflection on the stark difference of the past and communication today that is mostly electronic.

I also continue to investigate the repeated process of multiple copies in photography. Creating a photogram of one of their journal pages and making a copy of it, up to a 6th copy, where each represents a generation. With each generation, the written information becomes distorted and unreadable. This in turn reflects how information becomes diluted or lost from the passing of one generation to the next.
  • Mitachondrial (detail)
    Mitachondrial (detail)
    Journal pages transferred with mason stain onto stoneware slabs and placed in stack configuration. 48" x 10.5" x 11"
  • Mitachondrial
    Mitachondrial
    Journal pages transferred with mason stain onto stoneware slabs and placed in stack configuration. 48" x 10.5" x 11"
  • A Grand Day
    A Grand Day
    Journal page from Great-great-grandmother's journal transferred with mason stain onto stoneware cast of an e-reader.
  • Timeline (detail)
    Timeline (detail)
    Pages from Great Grandmothers Journal transferred with mason stain onto stoneware slabs and placed in a configuration similar to a didactic timeline.
  • Timeline
    Timeline
    Pages from Great Grandmothers Journal transferred with mason stain onto stoneware slabs and placed in a configuration similar to a didactic timeline. 12" x 46" x 9"
  • Generational (detail)
    Generational (detail)
    Comparison of 1st copy and 6th copy.
  • Generational
    Generational
    Photogram of a journal page, replicated one after the other. By the sixth generation it becomes less legible. Each copy is representative of a generation and represents how information get's lost or misinterpreted each generation it's passed down to. 8.5" x 11" each.
  • 1953
    1953
    Photogram of my great-grandmother's journal page on 16 x 20 silver gelatin paper.

Image/Artifact

Image/Artifact is a series that pairs photographs taken with my box camera and slip cast objects that were found in or around where the photograph was taken. These forensic like investigations reflect a personal history and narrative through issues related to archaeology and human history.
  • Swam Around and Around
    Swam Around and Around
    Silver gelatin prints from images taken with old brownie camera. Slip cast stoneware of wood branch found in general area of where photographs were taken. All are placed within a painted rectangle with nails or pins on the wall.
  • Sounds
    Sounds
    Silver gelatin prints from images taken with old brownie camera. Slip cast stoneware of cassette tape found in general area of where photographs were taken. All are placed within a painted rectangle with nails or pins on the wall.
  • Trophy
    Trophy
    Silver gelatin print from an image taken with old brownie camera. Slip cast stoneware of deer antler found in general area of where photograph was taken. Both are placed within a painted rectangle with nails or pins on the wall.
  • Inheritance; Berryville, VA
    Inheritance; Berryville, VA
    Silver gelatin prints taken with a Kodak Box camera. The stoneware spoon and broken plate were made from a slip cast mold. This project was created directly with the Rotating History Project, Clermont Forum II. All are placed within a painted rectangle with nails or pins on the wall.
  • Deflated; Brooklyn, NY
    Deflated; Brooklyn, NY
    Image taken with a Kodak Box camera where the negative was scanned and printed. The stoneware balloon was made from a slip cast mold. All are placed within a painted rectangle with nails or pins on the wall.
  • Stature (detail); Druid Hill Park, Baltimore
    Stature (detail); Druid Hill Park, Baltimore
    Image taken with a Kodak Box camera where the negative was scanned and printed. The stoneware lipstick was made from a slip cast mold.
  • Stature; Druid Hill Park, Baltimore
    Stature; Druid Hill Park, Baltimore
    Image taken with a Kodak Box camera where the negative was scanned and printed. The stoneware lipstick was made from a slip cast mold. All are placed within a painted rectangle with nails or pins on the wall.
  • Sweet Victory; Budapest,Hungary
    Sweet Victory; Budapest,Hungary
    Image taken with a Kodak Box camera where the negative was scanned and printed. The stoneware candy was made from a slip cast mold. All are placed within a painted rectangle with nails or pins on the wall.
  • Cloaked; Budapest, Hungary
    Cloaked; Budapest, Hungary
    Image taken with a Kodak Box camera where the negative was scanned and printed. The stoneware button was made from a slip cast mold. All are placed within a painted rectangle with nails or pins on the wall.
  • Stoj!Halt!; Auschwitz, Poland
    Stoj!Halt!; Auschwitz, Poland
    Image taken with a Kodak Box camera where the negative was scanned and printed. The stoneware braid was made from a slip cast mold. All are placed within a painted rectangle with nails or pins on the wall.

Opening Lines

As I uncover the history of my own family through old photographs and documents, I am reconciling the past and present. This personal quest motivated me to use an old box camera that is like restructuring time, the old focal depth alludes to visual remnants of the past. By forcing contemporary scenes into the vintage aesthetic, I’m questioning history and its narrative. When coming across old photographs with limited knowledge of the facts and history behind the image, one starts to interject their own ideas of what happened.
Building off of this idea of narrative, I have been creating a series called Opening Lines that pair images with writings that lead the viewer through thought provoking circumstances. My recent work has gradually been shifting towards a fictional narrative where creating correlations between sometimes disparate visual and written information creates a story within itself that is left to the viewer to interpret. This collection of combined stories and images will ultimately be published into a limited edition book.
  • Page 25 (Auvillar, France)
    Page 25 (Auvillar, France)
    Ink jet print, 12" x 10"
  • Page 24 (Auvillar, France)
    Page 24 (Auvillar, France)
    Ink jet print, 12" x 10"
  • Page 23 (Paris, France)
    Page 23 (Paris, France)
    Ink jet print, 12" x 10"
  • Page 22 (Toulouse, France)
    Page 22 (Toulouse, France)
    Ink jet print, 12" x 10"
  • Page 21 (Wodowicz, Poland)
    Page 21 (Wodowicz, Poland)
    Ink jet print, 12" x 10"
  • Page 16 (Central Park, NY)
    Page 16 (Central Park, NY)
    Ink jet print, 12" x 10"
  • Page 14 (Rome, Italy)
    Page 14 (Rome, Italy)
    Ink jet print, 12" x 10"
  • Page 13 (Mt. Vesuvius, Italy)
    Page 13 (Mt. Vesuvius, Italy)
    Ink jet print, 12" x 10"