Chloe McEldowney Art

Painter and self-proclaimed “collector of color”, Chloe McEldowney makes vibrant oil paintings exploring the multifaceted nature of an individual subject. Using color as language, Chloe unifies representation, impression, memory, and sentiment in unique color palettes. Her expressive style draws from a decade-long art career spent painting live portraits, teaching printmaking and painting workshops, and working in galleries. Chloe currently resides in Wilmington, DE with her husband Dan and their dog and cats. She paints each day from her plant-filled home studio.

Chloe received her BFA from the University of Dayton in 2014. She was awarded an Excellence in Visual Arts Award by the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio and was also selected as a Dorothy & Bill Yeck College Artist Fellow through the Dayton Art Institute. She has been a resident artist at Prairie Center of the Arts in Peoria, IL, and Access Arts in Columbia, MO. Her works have been included in exhibitions at galleries and museums across the United States, including at The Dayton Art Institute, The Peoria Riverfront Museum, Anne Irwin Fine Art, The Delaware Contemporary, and Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art. 

Statement

For me, painting is the endless pursuit of understanding. On the surface, my paintings portray a singular figure, but my work expresses instead the idea that nothing exists in isolation. Every individual is comprised of parts: identity and memory, intention and emotion. And they themselves are a part of a larger universe.

My paintings mirror the multifaceted and complex nature of the individual. I place a singular subject in a fragmented environment that is a surreal mixture of realism, impressionism, and abstraction. Like a collage or mosaic, each painted fragment is both distinct and unique, and an extension of the whole.

These bits of divergent elements converge into something singular, and fragments that would shift and shake and fall from each other are held still for a moment, bound together with threads of color. Color makes the piece whole.

Color is a divine force that seduces, deceives, and unifies. The more I observe and mix colors, the more there is to know. Painting offers an outlet to be constantly mystified, to express my ideas, and to find understanding through the language of color.