Elizabeth Castiglione

My work is autobiographical. Through painting, drawing, and collage, I explore what matters most to me personally, most notably: memory; motherhood; and mental illness. The four bodies of work presented on this website were created over the last twenty-five years. They appear quite different from each other in style and subject matter, yet they circle around these three themes that have engaged my attention for decades.

The earliest works depicted here are acrylic paintings from 1998 to 2000, immediately after finishing my Master of Fine Arts degree. They explored my feelings about the depression with which I had struggled for years, and the depression that I also saw in family members.

I gave birth to my first child in 2000 and to my second child in 2002. I turned to pencil and sketchbook for the next few years. I drew my two small boys in the middle of the night when they were asleep. For a brief time during these years, I also painted their portraits.

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when my children were six and four years old, around 2006. Throughout their school years, I fought to balance parenting and some part-time teaching with the ongoing process of finding the right combinations of medications that would allow me to function in the world.

In 2013, when my children were in middle school, I rented a studio in a local arts building and began a new body of work: dozens of small painted collages focusing on memory and the generations of our family. I spoke about these pieces in an artist talk in 2015 at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, at an exhibit of my work. The transcript of that talk is available on this website.

I left that studio in 2016 and rented a much larger studio in a converted warehouse. There I was able to work big, creating a body of oil paintings on canvases that ranged from two to eight feet tall. These works employed images of sunflowers in various states of growth and decay as a metaphor for mental illness. I spoke about this work in an artist talk in 2019 at George School in Newtown, Pennsylvania, at an exhibit of my work. The transcript is available on this website. Most of these paintings have been sold and are in private collections across the United States.

I am exploring milkweed pods now, as a metaphor for my current stage of life: menopause and my children leaving home.

Education

1996-1998 University of Washington. Seattle, Washington. M.F.A.
1994-1995 University of Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin.
1986-1990 Yale University. New Haven, Connecticut. B.A.

Teaching

2024-present Volunteer Art Teacher. Friends Retirement Home. Newtown PA.
2016-present Substitute Teacher, Art. George School. Newtown PA.
2010-2011 Instructor, 2-D Art. George School. Newtown PA.
2007-2008 Adjunct Instructor, Art History. Saint Joseph’s University. Philadelphia PA.
2005-2008 Adjunct Instructor, Fine Arts. Saint Joseph’s University. Philadelphia PA.
1999-2000 Visiting Assistant Professor, Fine Arts. St. Joseph’s University. Philadelphia PA.
1998-1999 Instructor, Figure Drawing. Main Line School Night. Philadelphia PA.
1997-1998 Instructor, Drawing. University of Washington. Seattle WA.
1996-1997 Teaching Assistant, Painting. University of Washington. Seattle WA.
1992-1995 Instructional Aide. Special Education. McAteer High School. San Francisco CA.

Solo Exhibitions

2018 Media Vita in Morte Sumus. George School. Newtown PA.
2016 Landscape of Memory. Settlement Music School. Philadelphia PA.
2015 Landscape of Memory. St. Joseph’s University. Philadelphia PA.
2015 Landscape of Memory. Green Line Café. Philadelphia PA.

Group Exhibitions

2024 Community Show. George School. Newtown PA.
2016 Community Show. George School. Newtown PA. Curator Amedeo Salamoni.
2015 Going Home. Foundry Art Centre. St.Charles MO. Juror Mark Appling Fisher.
2015 Force of Nature. Plymouth State University. Plymouth NH. Juror Judith Brodsky
2015 Juried Show. Artists of Yardley. Yardley PA. Juror Carol Cruickshanks.
2009 Small Works. Pagus Gallery. Philadelphia PA. Curator Tim Hawkesworth.
2007 Philadelphia Artists. Woodmere Art Museum. Philadelphia PA.
2003 Annual Exhibit. Quaker Artists. Seitz Gallery. Harrisburg PA.
2002 Annual Exhibit. Quaker Artists. Da Vinci Art Alliance. Philadelphia PA.
2001 Narrative/Non-Narrative. Pagus Gallery. Norristown PA.
2000 Georgetown International. Fraser Gallery. Washington DC. Juror Margarida Hull.
2000 Annual Exhibit. Quaker Artists. Friends Center. Philadelphia PA.
1999 Annual Exhibit. Quaker Artists. Arch Street Meetinghouse. Philadelphia PA.
1998 MFA Thesis Show. The Henry Museum: University of Washington. Seattle WA.
1998 Community Works. Phinney Neighborhood Center. Seattle WA.
1997 Works in Progress. Jacob Lawrence Gallery: University of Washington. Seattle WA.
1997 Drawings and Paintings. Phinney Neighborhood Center. Seattle WA.
1995 Visible Obscured. Humanities Gallery: University of Wisconsin. Madison WI.
1994 Corazón del Barrio. Mission Cultural Center. San Francisco CA.
1993 Exteriors. Sun Country Foods. San Francisco CA.
1993 Still Visions. Café Fanari. San Francisco CA.
1993 Corazón del Barrio. Mission Cultural Center. San Francisco CA.
1992 Interiors. Tart to Tart Café. San Francisco CA.
1992 People and Places. Radio Valencia Café. San Francisco CA.
1990 Yale Women Artists. Yale University. New Haven CT.