ARTIST BIOGRAPHY Elizabeth Topham was born in Vancouver, British Columbia where she currently lives and works. Inspired by two years of travelling abroad through the U.K. and Europe, she returned to Vancouver to study mixed media and painting at Emily Carr College of Art + Design. She was awarded the Carter-Begg Scholarship for painting in her second year and graduated with a Diploma in Visual Arts in 1991. Her interest in nature led her to study at Atlin Centre for the Arts on a Tuition Scholarship with guest artists Irene F. Whittome and Al McWilliams. She continued her studies in nature and became a Certified Arborist in 2003. In 2007 she returned to Emily Carr University of Art + Design graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2008. ARTIST STATEMENT The depiction and study of nature is a pervasive force within my work. It links me to the history of painting and acts as an allegory and reflection to larger questions in my life. I am working on studies for a body of work titled, "Desire: The Magnificent Obsession". In this series I am studying the structural aspects of paint and its ability to depict the voluptuous forms of blackberry brambles as well as its subject matter as a metaphor for the dichotomies within desire; seductive yet dangerous, ecstasy yet agony, representing our often conflicted relationship to desire.