Over the years, my work has come to explore the relationship between science and art.  Using the many symbols found in astronomy, physics and alchemy, I strive to reflect the seemingly illogical and arbitrary order inherent in today’s uncertain world. The texture, depth and complexity of the surfaces of my paintings imply realms of the physical, and the celestial, while the scientific symbolism suggests the accurate and the quantifiable.

The foundation of my work often begins with a careful consideration to scale, color and composition achieved through visualizing or drawing. Methods used become incidental towards building a "history" to dig back into, to bury, to add onto or to reveal.  I often work on several paintings simultaneously.  This way of working enables me to detach from the work to some extent, inviting a dialogue or theme to emerge.

Painting for me acts as a metaphor for all that that is unknown, intangible and incomprehensible to us as human beings. Though my work is driven by my own romantic visualization and nostalgia of science’s attempt towards a definition of order, the viewer is free to engage with and interpret its overall meaning.

Elise Wagner, 2011