Elizabeth Buhr holds a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honors from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. She is a licensed K–12 Art Educator through Regis University in Denver, Colorado, and has worked as an art educator for over 20 years across the Midwest and Colorado.
Elizabeth's work is rooted in both spiritual as well as narrative structure, with a particular interest in the stories that images can convey. She works across media, with a strong focus on drawing and works on paper. Her pieces are included in numerous private and public collections, such as DEX Communications, the Cardinal Stafford Library, the John Paul II Center for New Evangelization, and the Lanteri Center for Ignatian Spirituality.
Artist Statement
Swimming has been a constant presence in my life—an activity I return to year-round, both in the quiet stillness of indoor pools and the expansive wildness of Colorado’s lakes and reservoirs. In the summertime, I am especially drawn to open water, where each stroke becomes a form of meditation. As I swim, my thoughts drift to what might be moving beneath or beside me: unseen creatures, imagined forms, the mysteries of the deep.
These moments inspire my current artistic practice. The 'fish' in my work are not literal representations of aquatic life but are drawn from the rich visual language of medieval art—where fish often appear as anthropomorphic beings or fantastical beasts. I am fascinated by this blend of the natural and the imagined, where creatures exist at the intersection of mythology, symbolism, and the subconscious.
Through my work, I explore this submerged world of possibility, bringing to the surface forms that are both strange and familiar, playful yet slightly uncanny. They are not just fish—they are characters, guardians, or echoes of something ancient and unseen, shaped by my own experiences in the water and the space of the imagination.