Artist Statement
Artist's Statement
Painting, for me, is a creative way to process the events, people, places and things that touch my life. Each painting is an exploration of expression in the use of color, symbol, and pattern. I am intrigued by relationships - human, nature, and spiritual. The act of painting provides a state in which to lose myself and ponder the questions life presents. The process of painting allows me to share with others a language that could not otherwise be conveyed.
Artist's Bio
Eli Corbin is a contemporary painter whose work explores themes of ancestry, feminine presence, and symbolic narrative. Working primarily in acrylic, she creates layered figurative compositions that merge atmospheric abstraction with recognizable human forms. Her paintings invite viewers into contemplative spaces where memory, identity, and collective experience intersect.
Corbin’s work frequently centers on the presence of women as carriers of history and connection. Her figures often appear in moments of gathering, reflection, or transformation, suggesting a quiet dialogue between past and present. Rather than illustrating a specific story, her paintings evoke a sense of shared human experience, where individual lives are connected through memory, lineage, and collective identity.
Through layered color, gestural mark-making, and subtle shifts between representation and abstraction, Corbin constructs environments that feel both physical and symbolic. Figures emerge from atmospheric backgrounds, architectural interiors, or natural landscapes, creating a visual language that suggests presence, passage, and the enduring imprint of those who came before us.
Her process is largely intuitive. Corbin builds each painting through successive layers of paint, allowing forms and relationships to develop organically over time. As the surface evolves, narratives begin to reveal themselves—women gathered in quiet communion, figures standing within sacred or reflective spaces, or solitary individuals poised at moments of personal transition.
While grounded in figurative painting, Corbin’s work embraces a contemporary sensibility, blending expressive abstraction with symbolic imagery. Her paintings seek to create space for reflection, inviting viewers to consider the connections between personal memory, collective experience, and the continuity of human presence across generations.
Corbin lives and works in St. Augustine, Florida, where she maintains an active studio practice.