Presented by the Oakland Museum of California Professional Services division
Professional Services Exhibition Archive

Elaine Wander exhibition view. Photo Michael Temperio.

The world of Elaine Wander’s imagination is full of intricate narratives and fantastic characters. Her studio in Rodeo, California is bursting with the energy of an artist that is always working on something. Paintings in progress share the space with sketchbooks full of drawings and an array of small sculptures made of paper, plastic and other media.

As Wander explains, “I am a painter who makes things. An imaginative manual, to be more specific. Some of the things are big and some are very small. Usually I’m sitting working on a painting when I get new ideas. Craving spontaneity, I draw and cut up whatever is within my reach. One day it was my bills. This is the origin of Desirable Discards: The Enveloper Series.”

Elaine Wander exhibition view. Photo Michael Temperio.

This site-specific installation shares some of the qualities of form and media as the pieces that make up her private workspace. Most important, the work on view extends the life of the characters in her paintings. Curious figures dance, embrace, talk on cell phones and carry out countless unknown rituals. Wander states, “The subject of the piece is the figure as metaphor for the infinite ways we create identity. The Envelopers are symbols of my relationships to the living things in this world and the inanimate objects we use everyday.”

While this public installation is a departure from her work as a painter, it is a continuation of the unique vision Elaine Wander has crafted over decades of work.

Carin Adams
Museum Curatorial Specialist

Organized by the Professional Services division of the Oakland Museum of California.