Elizabeth Corkery (b. Sydney, Australia) lives and works in Sacramento, CA. Her work borders on the ethnographic, addressing the social and political structures of environments’ creators and users. Originally trained as a printmaker much of Elizabeth’s practice connects conceptual concerns of repetition, reproduction and simulation with spatial investigations that initiate a slippage between the conventionally two-dimensional nature of print media and a more volumetric architectural space.

Her installations are grounded in readings of the built environment, and with nearly every project, she deconstructs a site, or an image of that site, selecting some aspects of its structural idiosyncrasy or decorative style to examine through reproduction and compositional fragmentation. One outcome of this fragmentation is a mode of production that often relies on paneling and reproducible modular elements that hinge between mass-produced component parts and bespoke printed forms. Printed reproductions repeat and dissolve across separate segmented surfaces resulting in a rhythmic interplay that forces us to reconsider the architectural environment as merely a static backdrop.

Corkery holds a BFA from the College of Fine Arts, University of South Wales, a BA from Pennsylvania State University, and an MFA from Cornell. Her work has been featured in exhibitions across the United States, Europe, and Australia, with solo and group exhibitions at 120710 Gallery, Berkeley, CA; Providence College Galleries, Providence, RI; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University; and IIdiko Butler Gallery, Fordham University, among many others. Corkery has participated in numerous residencies, including the John Michael Kohler Arts Center; Providence College Galleries, Residency for Visual Artist and Scholars; Studio Apprenticeship, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia; and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center, among many others.

SELECT Exhibitions

• Fanfare, Ildiko Butler Gallery, Fordham University, New York, 2020 

• On the Wall: Elizabeth Corkery, Providence College Galleries, Providence, RI, 2019*

• Sanctuary, Fused Space, San Francisco, CA, 2019

• Pieces from Pictures, Outside, North Adams, MA, 2017*

• Pictures of Pieces, Beers Contemporary, London, UK, 2015*

• The Modern Interior, First Draft Gallery, Sydney, 2014
  (two-person show with Graham McDougal)

• Small Decors, The Telfer Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland, 2014*

SELECT AWARDS AND COLLECTIONS

• John Michael Kohler Arts/Industry Residency, 2021

• Finalist, The Print Center 94th ANNUAL International Competition, 2019

• Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, 2016

• Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center, 2015

• Ian Potter Cultural Trust Travel Grant, 2014