Elizabeth Hollick: Body Politic

Often startling and always colourful, the paintings by Elizabeth Hollick unite the human body with the world at large. Hollick is celebrated throughout Surrey for her lively figurative paintings of local places, stories, and characters. For many years, she has also been fascinated by human anatomy, as well as the architecture and landscape of White Rock. With her signature humour, each painting in Body Politic portrays the connections between the privacy of the interior world and the development of society at large.

In a series of works titled Body Parts in Strange Places, impossibly large organs lie embedded in construction projects throughout the city. A damaged heart is excavated by road workers in an intersection; a skeleton holds aloft the roof of a skyscraper in progress; patchwork skin unfurls over the side of a newly built apartment. Works from this series are joined by other pieces from Hollick’s extensive catalogue, combining to portray the breadth of her imagination and whimsy.

Body Politic also includes key selections from Hollick’s immense collection of sketchbooks. Many of them are filled with precise renderings of local architecture and construction sites, drawn on the spot; others capture a wealth of emotionally stirring memorabilia associated with her late husband, whose hospitalization inspired her interest in the body and health. These drawings provide viewers with a rare glimpse into the techniques and creative vision of the artist.

Hours
Tuesday-Thursday
9am-9pm

Friday
9am-5pm

Saturday
10am-5pm

Sunday
12-5pm

Closed Mondays and holidays

About the Artist

Elizabeth Hollick is a painter and muralist based in White Rock. She studied visual arts at Croydon College of Art and St. Martin’s School of Art in London, England. She has created murals for buildings throughout White Rock, Surrey, and Vancouver, and is also known for her large-scale sand sculptures, created along with daughter Jo Hollick. She is a member of the Larger Than Life Drawing group and has been commissioned to draw Town Hall meetings for the Surrey Cultural Plan. Her works have been widely exhibited in solo and group shows throughout Metro Vancouver.