Elaine Brown

Elaine took a leap in the MFA show project ‘Me Neither’, working directly in clay portraiture.
Elaine asked seven groups of people who present themselves in her daily life to pose for a clay head portrait time limited to ten minutes.
The day starts with a self-portrait in clay, that same clay head is transformed over the day with one sitter following another. The process is documented by photographs and video. At the end of the day the last sitter is transformed to a self-portrait again. 
With the time constraint in place she only draws the front of the head in clay and states “If you are really looking then the sides start to draw themselves”
Using multiple sitters, having them see the process and including them in the final documentation was an important part of the project. 
The first sitter doesn’t always meet or know the next sitter but they have an impact on the next sculpture.
The premise is the butterfly effect (ref 1) chaos theory, how a very small change has an impact.
We begin the day, wake up with ourselves and end the day with ourselves. 
We are born and it is just you. We die and it is just you.
The clay for the portraits comes from the earth, will not be fired and will be recycled / returned to the earth.

Elaine also works on paper, using long scrolls but also in video, digital making as well as hands on clay. No material or tool is fixed.  
At a time when AI can do almost everything Elaine has leant the value of the small sketch and the personal handprint.