Solo Exhibit
Bay Shore Public Library
November, 2010

Ellen Hallie Schiff’s remarkable, large-scale canvases juxtapose lush action painting with amorphous, ethereal figures that beckon from the tumult of splatters and splashes surrounding them. In Schiff’s signature cosmos a central mythic figure, sometimes appearing Christ-like with outstretched limbs, does battle with gorgeous eruptions of color and paint. In her paintings the figurative and abstract elements are jostling for space on the canvas. They are each trying to stake out their own territory – they are each competing for space. With ambitious titles like, “Birth of Civilization” and “Fire-Starter”, she suggests a panoramic view of a secret, primordial universe, where not yet-developed, vaguely spiritual beings ebb and flow.

Chuck Varricchio — Art Reviewer