Eleanor Spiess-Ferris (born July 3, 1941) is an American symbolist painterYood, James, Artforum International, reviews Zaks Gallery, September, 1991 cited as a significant

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

,Marcus, Stanley, Exploring Imaginary Subjects, Watercolor ’88, American Artist Magazine, 1998 narrative figurative and feminist artist."Eleanor Spiess-Ferris: An Artist’s Journey" – Charles Wustum Museum – Racine, Wisconsin – essay by Estella Lauter Her numerous visual works display powerful influences of the Spanish and Native American cultures of Northern New Mexico, where she grew up. They often reference

Penitentes (New Mexico) ''Los Hermanos de la Fraternidad Piadosa de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno'' ( Spanish: 'The Brothers of the Pious Fraternity of Our Father Jesus the Nazarene'), also known as ''Los Penitentes'', ''Los Hermanos'', the ''Brotherhood of our Father J ...

retablo A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...

Kachina A kachina (; also katchina, katcina, or katsina; Hopi: ''katsina'' , plural ''katsinim'' ) is a spirit being in the religious beliefs of the Pueblo peoples, Native American cultures located in the south-western part of the United States. In th ...

s and Native American fetishes and frequently incorporate themes of

feminist spirituality Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Neopaganism, Baháʼí Faith, Judaism, Islam and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of those religion ...

,Krantz, Ed, Sketches, Orchards and Dark Ponds, Safety-Kleen Gallery One, Elgin Community College, Elgin, Illinois.

Indo-European mythology Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of myths and deities associated with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested ...

and personal memory.Holg, Garret
Eleanor Spiess-Ferris, Symbolism
College of Lake County articleWright, Robert T., The Magpie Chronicles, College of Lake County, Illinois

Life

Spiess-Ferris was born on July 3, 1941, in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

and raised on a small farm there. Her mother, Harriette, descended from early Spanish settlers in the territory. Her father, Waldo Spiess, was an attorney of German/Irish/Mexican heritage who became Chief Justice of the New Mexico Appellate Court. She earned her BFA at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

and attended the

Chicago Art Institute The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

. She married Chicago artist and toy designer Mike Ferris (1938– 2000) in 1962. They had two children, artist

Emil Ferris Emil Ferris (; born 1962) is an American writer, cartoonist, and designer. Ferris debuted in publishing with her 2017 graphic novel '' My Favorite Thing Is Monsters''. The novel tells a coming-of-age story of Karen Reyes, a girl growing in 1960s ...

and Michael Ferris, Jr., a New York sculptor married to New York artist Rosemarie Fiore. She and her husband lived briefly in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

and returned to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in the late 1960s.

Work

Spiess-Ferris has created a large body of widely shown works in oil,

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache ...

and

Conté Conté (), also known as Conté sticks or Conté crayons, are a drawing medium composed of compressed powdered graphite or charcoal mixed with a clay base, square in cross-section. They were invented in 1795 by Nicolas-Jacques Conté, who crea ...

crayon over a span of more than four decades, and have included ceramics in her later period. She populates her visual landscapes with human forms – often women, often truncated or morphed – integrated with vividly rendered, precise images of animals, plants and natural phenomena. Her works evoke and blend mythological, spiritual, psychological, environmental and feminist themes in dreamlike contexts. She draws deeply on her childhood in the high country of northern New Mexico – its landscape and ethnic cultures – where, as youngest of four siblings, she spent much of her playtime alone, exploring her parents’ overgrown apple and plum orchard, observing transformative cycles of life. She plays with the ideas of Symbolist art by morphing figures of women into roots, trees, leaves and birds, yet diverts from them, keeping her figures subconsciously distant, always in the process of formation and evolution. Her work integrates elements of surrealism, symbolism and expressionism and cites

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/ Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on o ...

Paul Delvaux Paul Delvaux (; 23 September 1897 – 20 July 1994) was a Belgian painter noted for his dream-like scenes of women, classical architecture, trains and train stations, and skeletons, often in combination. He is often considered a surrealist, alt ...

and

James Ensor James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic g ...

among disparate artists who have influenced her artistic development. Spiess-Ferris has also produced poetry and short fiction much in the same surrealist-narrative vein as her visual art. Spiess-Ferris is a Figure Painting and Drawing instructor on the faculty of The Art Center of Evanston Illinois.Evanston Art Center
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Awards

Spiess-Ferris has received numerous major art awards and citations including Artist-in-Residence grants at Anchor Graphics and Paper Press, Chicago, Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Grant and a Vielehr Award from Art Institute of Chicago.

Major exhibitions

* 2014: "Inside the Outside Imagism," Chicago Hyde Park Art Center * 2013: “Fecundity,” Packer Schopf Gallery * 2012: “Ophelia’s Gardens” Printworks, Chicago, “Ophelia’s Garden, JRB Gallery, Oklahoma City. * 2011: “Shallow Waters,” Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota * 2010: Elgin Community College, Safety-Kleen Gallery One, Elgin, Illinois - Sketches, Orchards & Dark Ponds – Catalog – essay by Ed Krantz. “Paintings of a Suffering Planet” – Western Illinois University, Macomb, Ill. * 2009: “Sorrows of Swans” – Printworks Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, Gouache on Paper. “Sorrows of Swans” – Chicago Cultural Center, Mich. Ave. Gallery, Chicago, Oils on Linen, “Sorrows of Swans. Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois, Sorrows of Swans – Catalog - essay by James Yood * 2006: “Water and Other Wise” – Packer Gallery, Chicago, Illinois. “The Magpie Chronicles” – Robert T. Wright community Gallery of Art, College of Lake County, Grayslake, Illinois The Magpie Chronicles – Catalog – essay by Garrett Holg * 2002: “Regeneration” – Zaks Gallery, Chicago, Illinois * 1999: “New Works” – Zaks Gallery, Chicago, Illinois * 1996: “The Goddess Series” – Shircliff Gallery of Art, Vincennes University, Vincennes, Indiana * 1994: “Works on Paper” – Zaks Gallery, Chicago, Illinois * 1992: “The Goddess Series” – Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan, “Eleanor Spiess-Ferris: An Artist’s Journey” - University of Wisconsin at Green Bay, Green Bay, Wisconsin. “Eleanor Spiess-Ferris: An Artist’s Journey” – Charles Wustum Museum – Racine, Wisconsin . "Eleanor Spiess-Ferris: an Artist’s Journey" – Catalog – essay by

Estella Lauter Estella may refer to: People *Diego de Estella (1524–1578) *Estella Sneider (born 1950) *Estella Warren (born 1978), Canadian actress *Estella, the ''nom de guerre'' of Italian labor leader Teresa Noce Fictional *Estella Havisham, a character ...

* 1990: “New Works” – Zaks Gallery, Chicago, Illinois * 1989: Kansas City Artists Coalition, Kansas City, Missouri. University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin * 1987: “Beamish Mummery” – Chicago Cultural center, Chicago, Ill * 1984: “New Works, Eleanor Spiess-Ferris” – van Stratten Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

References

External links

*
Evanston Art Center

The Center for Humans and Nature
Gavin van Horn essay on Eleanor Spies-Ferris
Packer Schopf Gallery
Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois
Chicago Hyde Park Art Center

Light Fantastic Books, A Rose in Bloom

The website of Spiess-Ferris's son Michael Ferris, Jr.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiess-Ferris, Eleanor 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters 1941 births Living people Symbolist painters 20th-century American women painters 21st-century American women painters People from Las Vegas, New Mexico