Elizabeth Henley

Lives and works in Tulsa, OK, USA

Artist statement

Elizabeth Henley is a painter, multimedia artist, and social practitioner from Tulsa, Oklahoma. While living and working in Tulsa, she attended several schools including studying Interior Design at Oklahoma State University, but never finished with a degree. After taking color theory and art classes, she realized her main passion was creating work through visual art. She began displaying art publicly in 2015 with a focus on portraiture and incorporating elements of afro-futurism into her pieces. Her art journeys through themes of self exploration and preservation, identity, strength, trauma, spirituality, and solitude as they relate directly to her experience of growing up as a Black woman in present day Oklahoma. In 2017, she redirected her artistic pursuits to finding space in her local art scene for Black Artists in the Tulsa area. This desire for inclusion and diversity in art led her to found and create Black Moon in 2018, an all Black artist collective in Tulsa focused on breaking standards, pushing innovation, and cultivating creativity among her local community. With the formation of Black Moon, Elizabeth and fellow artists have shown in galleries and museums throughout the Oklahoma area, and created work that has been included in national news publications. Her goal is to become a successful and well-established artist, and promote Black Moon as a beneficial resource for artists in her area.

Artwork