The Mechanics Of Whimsy : The art of Elizabeth McGrath
written by artist Helen Garber

Sculpture today is a wide and many faceted medium in which contemporary artists have the freedom to work free from the restrained constructs of the past definitions of the medium. Elizabeth McGrath’s sculptures and self contained, shadow box installations are successful not in a formalist view of sculpture where a three dimensional catalyst would be projected within a particular space therefore in some way altering that space’s original integrity, but in a more intimate, almost completely opposing theory. These works are in conflict with that idealist function, since instead of projecting themselves upon the viewer, the viewer is actually drawn in and projected upon the piece. Due to the impressive craftsmanship of the work, intimate details and careful observation draw attraction and careful examination. Much like the work of other artists who have worked within the realm of the “intimate jewel box”, McGrath’s work draws the viewer into a consistently imagined, confined world in which the viewer can participate from a God-like perspective, examining the underpinning of happenings both delightful and distressing. One is drawn into the world of the work, allowing the viewer to navigate the rules of this particular imaginary world on their own. Animals take on the personalities and traits of humans, which allows McGrath to weave what are often sad tales within the work into a touch of candy floss that comes across as delightful, while never completely saccharine. McGrath’s use of animals within her work has an effect much like the use of puppetry in psychology when dealing with traumatic events in children, such as sexual abuse. The little animals’ within McGrath’s work are used as a transmission vehicle to deliver the great sadness of personal relations.

The traditions of assemblage and the creation of intimate, contained worlds has historically been a surrealist pursuit, yet McGrath’s work has little to do with the subconscious mind. The daughter of parents who met in Singapore while on missionary detail, and later left the clergy to marry, McGrath’s strict Catholic upbringing influences her aesthetic. The colorful, co-opted aesthetics of Catholicism by South American and Asian cultures lend a theatrical effect to much of her work. The mechanics of whimsy can be treacherous to navigate, and if done unsuccessfully will most certainly end in triteness, but if the viewer looks past the “cute” they will pick up on the saltier signifiers within the work. These are the artist’s foundations, which anchor the work soundly within the realm of art through personal examination instead of just denigrating it to the unexamined stockpile of craft.

McGrath’s work falls within the direct lineage of artists such as Joseph Cornell, early Alexander Calder and the later works of Marcel Duchamp, particularly Étant Donnés, where a parallel might be drawn through the use of isolationist worlds and the empowered gaze of the viewer. Both intercept one another to make the viewer a silent participant within the work while simultaneously confirming their outsider status.

McGrath’s work strives to communicate using similar means, yet her signifiers are vastly different. She draws inspiration from contemporary craft culture as well as her aforementioned Catholicism, Asian culture, street culture, Goth culture, Chicano culture, storybooks, theme parks, and too many other influences to note. She digests all of them and creates her own environments in which she may stage dramas and create scenarios that draw upon her own experiences and interactions with the outside world. If you examine her work closely, you might come to the realization that her creatures are really all self portraits, set in a fantastical landscape which echoes her own… a bitter, yet sweetly coated prescription for modern life.