Elizabeth Casqueiro
Maryland
Elizabeth Casqueiro is a visual artist from Portugal. She came to live in the US first as a high school exchange student and later as a graduate student. She works from her studios in Washington, DC, and Easton, Maryland. In addition to her background in design and architecture, Elizabeth pursued art studies at the Escola Superior de Belas Artes in Lisbon, Central Saint Martin’s College of Art in London, the Corcoran College of Art and Design, and the
Washington Studio School in DC.After a career as a corporate architect with the World Bank Group, during which she traveled to the far reaches of the globe, she became a full-time artist. She exhibits in the Washington DC metropolitan area and other cities in the United States, as well as in Portugal and the UK. Her artwork is in a number of private and corporate collections.
Website: elizabethcasqueiro.com
Email: ecasq@his.com
Instagram: #elizabethcasqueiro
Do you want to meet at my place – 2021
Acrylic and ink on panel, 48 x 60”
Searching for Babylon - 2021Acrylic and ink on Canvas, 40 x 30”
Acrylic and ink on Canvas, 40 x 30”
I looked but you were gone – 2021
Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30”
Within a vivid and playful palette inspired by the sunny geography of Portugal where I grew up, I search for the meaning of home through my abstract paintings and sculptures. Home does not need to be a physical enclosure – it can be a meadow, a street corner, or a group of people – but it is always a place of belonging and attachment.
As an immigrant who left behind a beloved home and culture, I am
aware of the influences that led to my departure at a time of national conflict and upheaval, such as the values reflected in sexist product advertising, and drew me to the United States with its can-do outlook articulated everywhere – especially in comic books. My artwork is populated with such recollections of the past and reflections of the present - childhood gardens, complex structures, intricate tile patterns, and even grenades - in a deconstructed, almost collage-like manner, echoing the way they surface in my mind.
As an international architect and graduate school professor, architecture informs my art practice. Similar to designing a building, my approach to artmaking relies heavily on research, planning, and project management. Geometry influences my artwork, as do scale and proportion. I also gravitate to materials that stem from nature - clay, water, wood, linen, and cotton. I work in repeated layers of precision and loose gesture to create my compositions reflecting the dichotomy between the fabricated
and the organic, mimicking the fragile and interconnected space between human existence and the world that sustains us
Just Passing Through - 2021Acrylic on canvas, 28 x 20”
Night and Day – 2021
Acrylic on canvas, 28 x 20 In
Rip What You Sew – 2021
Acrylic on canvas, 28 x 20”