EILEEN PLEASURE
Born Eileen Pleasure on the Autobahn in Germany, her early years were spent in Germany, Switzerland and France, where her father was stationed in the army. She recalls being intrigued by the painting process as a child, watching as her father, a self-taught photographer, hand painted his black and white photographs of Europe at the dining room table. Eileen has been painting for over 30 years, during which time she also worked with the developmentally disabled, retiring as a Psychologist in 2013. Her graduate degree is in Psychology (MA) and included undergraduate art classes at Plattsburgh SUNY and SUNY Buffalo. She also studied portrait drawing with Buffalo Artist, George Palmer. With a strong attraction to color, Eileen paints in an abstract style, often juxtaposing large areas of contrasting colors and textures. She has shown in Chicago, Illinois, Cleveland, Ohio, Ithaca, New York and in the Buffalo area. Her work is included in the Roswell Park Cancer Institute collection (Scott Bieler Clinical Sciences Center), the former Hotel Henry, Buffalo and in several private collections. Eileen’s legal name is Eileen O’Brien, but she prefers to use her maiden name in conjunction with her art career.
ARTIST STATEMENT
So many things can take us away from awareness of ourselves, especially in these times that we live in. Painting allows me to break free from the constant onslaught of information, the duties of life, the daily routines, and allows me space to digest and reflect on individual moments in my life as opposed to experiences being quickly buried by what comes next. With a background in Psychology, my interests lie in the emotionality of life and my paintings generally serve as an abstract, visual diary. Through the solitary nature of the painting process, I am able to take a moment to quiet my mind, to take a time out, to disengage my body from its usual daily routine, i.e. paying the bills, doing the dishes, shopping at Wegmans. Painting serves as my church, my quiet place, my playground, my confessional and my boxing ring, as there are times the painting and I violently fight each other and there are other times when we play nicely together. Through color and the physicality of the paint application, I am able to let feelings and thoughts come to the surface. My process often includes laying the canvas directly on the floor and applying paint with my hands/rags/brushes while moving around the piece, resulting in work which emphasizes color, texture and the expressive gestures inherent in the physical act of painting.