Elise Remender Explores Sweet Nostalgia at The White Room Gallery

This week’s Dan’s Papers cover artist, Elise Remender’s work is on view in the La Femme exhibition at The White Room Gallery in East Hampton (3 Railroad Avenue) through June 8, with an opening reception on Saturday, May 24, from 5–7 p.m. Here, Remender discusses her iconic painting style, her vintage-inspired inspirations, her sweet tooth and her experiences showing with The White Room Gallery, wowing Hamptons collectors and art lovers.

A Conversation with Elise Remender

Can you tell me about this painting? We see all these women wearing old-timey bathing suits and swim caps in your work — how did they capture your imagination?

Since high school, I have been fascinated by all things vintage. I was a child of the ’90s and grew up listening to Velvet Underground, The Rolling Stones, Bowie and the Beatles, and have always related to the music and fashion of that era.

I would frequent thrift stores and vintage shops for clothes, bathing suits and swim caps from the 1950s and ’60s. I wasn’t sure why I was collecting them. I just knew I had to have them. And ever since I was a child, I was deeply inspired by the work of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. It was the first time I could relate to a main character who was a stubborn, independent girl living in a world of her own creation to escape the one she was in.

I do like to incorporate my childhood inspiration into my work. I was also a huge fan of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Gene Wilder version, as well as all the Roald Dahl books. I still look back on that movie as a muse; the candy sweet pieces are my version of my world seen through Wonka’s vision.

I have also been inspired by the works of Salvador Dali, Magritte, Botticelli, Frida Kahlo, Wayne Thiebaud, Andy Warhol, Mark Ryden and Tim Burton as I am a surrealist at heart, always drawn to their ability to create an alternate reality. It’s wonderful to be able to paint a beautiful sunset or create someone’s likeness in a portrait, but to create your own reality, and have everything fit realistically in it really fascinated me. I sometimes imagine the spirit of Truman Capote helping me direct my art as I try to construct a surreal dream world in technicolor, a world of indulgence and decadence inspired by the elegant fashion and women of the last Gilded Age.

There’s something magical about your subject existing in this place between the water and the air — the two places being a sort of limitless abyss or boundless expanse, depending how one looks at it. And she is, of course, dressed for the water, but ready to fly away. Is there something symbolic going on here?

The Wizard of Oz had his hot air balloon, but they both get you to the same place. Safest way to travel now.

How did you find your way to the White Room Gallery and the Hamptons? Have you exhibited out here before? If so, what’s your experience been like showing here?

I found my way to The White Room gallery once the Art Gods smiled on me after watching me spend 25 years in my studio trying to hone my skills to get the ideas that come to me on canvas as quickly as possible. It’s been a wonderful experience working with a gallery that is so revered in the Hamptons. It’s a dream come true. This is my first time exhibiting in the Hamptons. I think my work connects with the collectors here as the gallery has sold several pieces and commissions. My themes of joy, celebration, escape, beauty, water and wonder with a female protagonist really resonate, and Andrea and Kat are generous with their expertise if I ever reach out with, “Is this working?”

You paint a lot of sweets and decadent treats. Do you have a sweet tooth?

Yes, very much so. I would have been a pastry chef if painting hadn’t worked out. I went to art school in San Francisco and every lunch break I would go to the MOMA to study. Wayne Thiebaud masterfully painted and composed dessert pieces. I was fascinated with how he used the paint as frosting and how he used multiple desserts in his compositions. I could see that you not only needed skill and a great idea but composition is essential to make it a truly successful piece.

Can you talk a bit about your painting process? Do you work from photo collage or your imagination?

I sketch before I create the painting, so I know exactly what it will look like before it’s done. My painting process is a combination of watercolor and opaque painting technique. I use watercolor practices to produce the background, using multiple layers of thin paint to generate brightness, depth and atmosphere while using opaque paint in thin layers to construct the luminous figure.

Visit the thewhiteroom.gallery for more images and info.