About this Artist
Ellen Soderquist
Artist’s Statement
Since 1979 I have been a studio artist, a teacher of life drawing and an advocate for
the nude in contemporary art. As an artist, l create intelligent and sensuous graphite
drawings of the human body. The nude has been a constant in my work since 1963; it is
my art form; and drawing is the primary technique for my expression of ideas. As a
teacher of life drawing, l advocate that my students learn the role of the nude in the
history of art and that they communicate their ideas about humanity through their work.
As a lecturer and an author, I bring the complex relevance of the unclothed human body
to the consciousness of contemporary culture.
In my freshman drawing class at SMU, we were taught life drawing as a discipline;
however, l was aware that the nude meant much more than that to me. As I laid down
the stick of charcoal after making my first gesture drawing of a nude model, I was
hooked. There was, in the flurry of charcoal on the surface of the newsprint, Somebody
looking back at me. After l discovered Kenneth Clark’s book, "The Nude: A Search for
Ideal Form," in which he stated that the nude is “not the subject of art, but a form of art” I
worked for decades to develop a technique that begins with a mass or scribble gesture
drawing that moves through abstracted forms to a tangible essence of humanity. In
numerous series of artwork, l have pursued a conceptual itinerary that spans the gamut
of human emotions and relationships and l have explored contemporary attitudes about
the nude as well as those of other cultures throughout the history of art.
Recently a reviewer described my drawings as “highly developed…elegant and
provocative." I strive to create an individual who is present for the viewer.
Resume
ELLEN SODERQUIST
Born: 1945; Mineral Wells, TX
Education:
B.S. Art Education, Texas Tech University, 1968
University of Colorado at Denver
University of Denver
Southern Methodist University
Current Employment:
Studio artist (1968 - Present)
Private instruction classes (1979 - Present)
Previous Employment:
O’Donnell Foundation, Advanced Placement:
Instructor, various workshops (2000-2008)
Juror, Young Masters (2005-06 & 2009-10)
The Guildhall at SMU, Adjunct Professor (2004)
Dallas Museum of Art; Instructor for Gateway Gallery Adult
Classes:
“Drawing from the Collections” (1993-2001)
Taos Summer Workshops (1995- 2001)
Brookhaven College; Fine Arts; Dallas, TX: Adjunct Faculty (1980-1997)
University of Texas @ Dallas; Fine Arts: Drawing Instructor (1987-1990)
Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts; Dallas, TX:
Drawing Instructor (1987-1990)
Brookhaven College and West London Institute Summer Abroad Program:
London, England; Instructor (1989)
University of Texas @ Austin, Zoology: Artist III (1974-1978)
University of Texas @ Austin, Astronomy: Cartographic Tech II (1972-1973)
Academic Research:
Originated seminar for Brookhaven College credit curriculum (1992-1996)
The Nude in the Art of Western Civilization
Series of nine books in progress, titled:
Naked or Nude? The Nude in the Art of Western Civilization
Book in progress, titled: Exposed! Artist’s Nude Self-Portraits
Museum Tours: Artist-guided tours concentrating on artworks of the nude
Paris (2001)
Florence and Rome (2000)
London (1999 & 2019)
New York City (1998)
Solo Exhibitions:
2016 WaterTower Theatre; Addison, TX
2014 WAAS Gallery; Dallas, TX
1989 MSC Gallery; Texas A&M University; College Station, TX
1989 Adams-Middleton Galley, Dallas, TX
1984 Capricorn Galleries; Bethesda, MD
1983 Sol del Rio; San Antonio, TX
1982-87 DW Gallery; Dallas, TX
Selected Exhibits and Lectures:
2018:
Soderquist & Huckaby, Trinity Christian Academy, Dallas TX
2017:
4th Annual Regional Juried Exhibition; Shirley Reece-Hughes, juror; Artspace 111;
Ft. Worth, TX
Drawing Room; Cedar Valley College; Lancaster, TX
2016:
Au Naturel 10th Annual International Competition; Lisa Harris, juror;
Clatsop Community College Art Center Gallery; Astoria, OR
and Cash Award to teach a Gesture Drawing Workshop at Clatsop College
Stage West; Sexy Laundry, lobby artist; Ft. Worth, TX
2015:
“Why Is It So Hard To Get Up”; WAAS Gallery @ NRG Recording Studios;
Los Angeles, CA
2014:
Au Naturel 8th Annual International Competition; Charles Froelick, juror;
Clatsop Community College Art Center Gallery; Astoria, OR
and Cash Award to teach a Gesture Drawing Workshop at Clatsop College
2002:
Works by Women, Curated by a Man, (Tracy Hicks, curator) 414 Gallery,
Ft. Worth, TX
2001:
Figurative Expressions, Collin County Community Distrtict College, Plano, TX
2000:
Red Hot Red Dot, invitational for Women & Their Work, Austin, TX
Masquerade, Edith Baker Gallery, Dallas, TX
Artist’s Talk: “Olympia: Variations on a Theme” for Topics II, Dallas, TX
Visiting Artist, slide lecture and student interviews @ Baylor University, Waco, TX
1999:
Up Close and Personal, Edith Baker Gallery, Dallas, TX
and Artist’s Talk: “Artist’s Nude Self-Portraits”
1998:
20 x 500X; 500X, Dallas, TX
and Tour: Richland College; Dallas, TX; Art Center of Waco; Waco, TX
Body & Soul, 2nd Annual Exhibit; State Street Gallery, Dallas, TX
and Artist’s Talk: “The Pygmalion Syndrome”
1997:
Drawing; Cedar Valley College; Cedar Valley, TX
1996:
Currents in American Art; The Art Center; Waco, TX
The Question of the Body; Brookhaven College; Dallas, TX
The Women’s Museum; curated by Judy DeSanders; Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX
Open House; Broadway Gallery; Addison, TX
1995:
Showing Off DCCCD-Art Faculty Exhibition; Dallas Visual Art Center; Dallas, TX
The Figure; Kevin Curry, curator; 501-B Hickory Street Annex; Dallas, TX
Twenty-Third Prints, Drawings, and Photographs Exhibition; Ruth Beesch, juror;
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
1994:
Jennivine’s; Dallas, TX
Messina’s; Dallas, TX
Cafe Brazil; Dallas, TX
Hats Off! EASL Auction; Trammel Crow Pavilion; Dallas, TX
Exquisite Corpse Auction for DARE; The MAC; Dallas, TX
1993:
Tempus Fugit; Edith Baker Gallery; Dallas, TX
Dare: A to Z; Bath House Cultural Center; Dallas, TX
Dallas Museum of Art - Artist’s Noon Lecture; Dallas, TX
EASL Coloring Book
1992:
Twentieth Anniversary Exhibit; Joe Kagle, curator; The Art Center; Waco, TX
1991:
Soderquist & Stein; Jim Bagwell & Associates; Dallas, TX
1990:
Counter Signals; Kevin Curry, curator; 501-B Hickory Street Annex; Dallas, TX
1989:
The Figure; Townsend Wolfe, curator; Arkansas Arts Center; Little Rock, AR
1988:
Art In the Metroplex; John Neff, juror; Texas Christian University; Ft Worth, TX
1987:
19th Annual Exhibit; Charlotta Kotik, juror; Arkansas Arts Center; Little Rock, AR
1986:
Women of the Big State: Current Art; Lisa Phillips, juror; Women & Their Work;
Austin, TX (State Tour)
1985:
Syracuse Scholar/Everson Museum of Art Drawing National; Clement Greenberg,
Nancy Hoffman, & John Perreault, jurors; Syracuse University (National Tour)
1984:
Seven Artists; Frumkin & Struve; Chicago, IL
Collaborations:
1987 Drawings of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Chuck Berry for the
stained glass windows at The Meddlesome Moth, Dallas, TX
(Previously at The Hard Rock Cafe; Dallas, TX)
DVDs: 2004 The Art of Gesture Drawing, Love of Art Productions, Dallas, TX
Grants: 1982 National Endowment for the Arts, Emerging Artist Grant, Drawing