The Drawings and printmaking artworks explore abstraction and it's connection to southern myths and southern stories, where identity and nature intersect. Inspired by Spanish Moss, water and historical stories of powerful women, I communicate stories of survival and isolation and empowerment. Inspiration comes from nature; Spanish Moss which lives on the trees along the Georgia Sea Coast. It holds water, which gives it life. Textured, sculptured, colorful beeswax paper of organic shapes echo water and form. I work with paper and non-traditional printmaking processes. The spontaneity and unpredictability of process give me another voice in the abstraction of nature connecting with a sense of place. I explore the landscape and the women of the South; how their spirit can carry off, through nature; plants, flowers, trees to move, change, yet always searching for a place of permanence and empowerment.
Eleanor Neal received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Selected exhibitions include the 2021 Atlanta Biennial, Of Care And Destruction, curated by Dr. Jordan Amirkhani at the Contemporary Arts Center; MOCA GA, 2019, Gathered IV in which she was an award winner; MOCA GA Works on Paper: 1980-2013 Women from the Permanent Collection Exhibition; and the International Footprint Biennial Exhibition at the Center of Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, Connecticut. Presently her artwork can be seen at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport as part of the MOCA GA Airport Exhibition featuring artists from the Permanent Collection. Honors include being selected by the Hampton University prestigious Elizabeth Catlett Printmaking Award 2016/2012; selected as a finalist for the 2020 Forward Arts Edge Award; selected for the Faith Ringgold Fellowship AnyOne Can Fly Printmaking Award.
Artist residencies include Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences Residency, Rabun Gap, Georgia; Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont; Haystack School of Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine; and Maine College of Art, Portland, Maine.
