Our Fall Issue Cover: Elizabeth Glaessner’s Big Head

Elizabeth Glaessner, a Brooklyn-based artist, has her work featured on the cover of our Fall issue. Her painting, titled Big Head, measures nearly seven feet in size, but we shrank it down to cover dimensions of six inches by five for publication. We visited Glaessner at her studio in East Williamsburg to learn about her creative process and the inspiration behind the painting.

The idea for Big Head originated from a smaller drawing of a figure emerging from a mouth, rooted in childhood experiences involving fear and religion. Glaessner explored this theme through various works, including depictions of exorcisms and cleansing rituals, and eventually created Big Head by painting the smaller figure painting the larger head in a studio setting.

Glaessner works in large-scale pieces and often repeats motifs, leaving multicolored prints beside her paintings. She paints the same images multiple times, sometimes one-handed, with one hand leaning against a wall. This repetition allows her to find freedom and new perspectives in the process.

The water theme in her paintings, featured in the show "Running Water," symbolizes constant motion and the feeling of never escaping oneself. This idea is also reflected in the title Big Head, which juxtaposes a tiny person painting a giant head, hinting at themes of ego and the absurdity of the act.

Glaessner listens to music while working, either ambient sounds or albums that help her get into the right mood for the painting. She also reads books, including No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai, which explores themes of alienation and humanity.