Painter Elijah Trice Makes Impactful Portraits - Inside Art with Michael Rose

Painter Elijah Trice Makes Impactful Portraits - Inside Art with Michael Rose

 

Rhode Island draws in artistic talent from throughout the region and around the country. This enhances the cultural scene in the state, making for a vibrant and ever-changing creative community. Painter Elijah Trice came to the Ocean State from Baltimore, Maryland to attend graduate school at the Rhode Island School of Design. Although his education is primarily in the field of architecture, Trice has made a name for himself in Rhode Island as the painter of sensitive and inventive portraits. He is a young artist on the rise.

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Trice was raised in Baltimore and earned his BS at Morgan State University before moving to Rhode Island to pursue graduate studies at RISD. An architect by training, Trice is a skilled painter with a focus on large-scale portraits. In his artist’s statement, he says that his “work celebrates the cultural impact of blackness in America while critiquing socio-political narratives geared toward people of color.”

 

 

While academically trained in architecture, Trice’s fine art work is the product of self-tutelage. Asked about his process of discovering oil painting as his preferred medium, Trice explains, “In 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to learn how to paint via YouTube videos and nonstop practice while taking my architecture courses at RISD. Initially, I assumed that I would struggle, but my background in illustration served as a great foundation for what later became my current artistic practice. I also believe that being an architectural designer played a role in understanding composition, scale, and depth; concepts I would usually have to take art classes to understand.”

 

At his studio in a Pawtucket mill building, Trice does not simply make his paintings, but hosts sitters for extended conversations, which he sees as integral to his process. Through conversing with those he paints, he is able to share untold stories. The resulting artworks are therefore highly personal and engaging. His bright and high-ceiling studio space is lined with portraits, which are almost all larger than life-sized.

 

 

Speaking of the philosophy behind his portrait subjects, the artist says, “Since I moved to Providence for school, I’ve met so many interesting creatives and entrepreneurs that inspired me to pursue my practice. I decided to highlight stories of the overlooked and unheard creative because I believe they have so much to offer. This process allows me to connect with those who share a similar experience as me while giving them a platform to express themselves freely and genuinely to the world.”

 

Trice’s paintings center and celebrate those he depicts. He often begins with an abstract background before layering in technically astute portraits on top. The rigorous design skills he has honed as an architecture student sometimes show up in his paintings, too. A careful draftsman, he relishes in details like the fabric of a sitter’s clothes or the glint in their eye.

 

 

In addition to his RISD connections and those he has developed through his studio practice, Trice is a member of the current cohort of WaterFire Providence’s Accelerate program, a professional development initiative for artists under age 30. Speaking of what he has gained from his participation in this program, Trice says, “I believe the Waterfire Accelerate program afforded me access to spaces and opportunities that are usually inaccessible to nontraditional artists and artists of color. This program also allowed me to connect with a broader range of artists and organizations that I was unaware of before.”

 

Trice’s works are ambitious in scale and successful in execution. Through his skill as a painter, he is creating grand portraits that promise to be the highlight of many forthcoming exhibitions. Through his association with WaterFire, Trice currently has paintings on view in a ground-floor space at The Graduate Hotel downtown. He will also have work featured in the upcoming Providence Biennial exhibition Poesis in July and August and will be highlighted in WaterFire’s Accelerate Show as well. Throughout the summer, he will additionally have work on view in the Harford 100-Mile Biennial Exhibition at the Chesapeake Gallery in Bel Air, Maryland.

 

 

Trice’s aim with his portraiture is to put his subjects in focus and he does so beautifully. Speaking of his goal, Trice states, “My goal is to create a body of work that allows people to connect with each other regardless of one’s socioeconomic background, allowing empathy and understanding to lead the conversation as opposed to prejudice and false narratives. As an artist of color, I believe that our narrative should be controlled and told by us.”

 

Learn more about Elijah Trice at his website at www.elijahtrice.com and follow him on Instagram @elijahtrice.art.