Elizabeth Varner’s body of work combines painting, sculptural installations, collage and photography to investigate themes of transformation — including rebirth and decay, reinterpretation, nature, and human engagement. Texture and patterns are important in all media. She is influenced by nature, fashion photography, pop art, and the human experience. Her works have sculptural elements — bringing the art closer to the viewer’s world – and is alternatively hyper-realistic or abstract and super-saturated to encapsulate the vividness of her composition and energy of the moment.

Varner is a DC based artist with more than thirty years of experience in creating art.  Her education includes classes at Salem Academy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Smithsonian-Corcoran College of Art+Design, Parsons New School, and University College London. She has shown her art in a variety of venues including a solo exhibition at the Green Goat Gallery as well as other group shows including those at Salem College and Academy and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her works have been published by Oxford University Press.

In addition to her career as an artist, Varner also enjoys working in art administration. She has served as a museum director for over ten years, served as an art consultant to a major organization, and advised and worked with cultural entities for even longer. She has also advanced provenance research and analysis, investigations and prosecutions of crimes involving cultural and scientific objects, and identification and repatriation of such objects.  Varner has curated multiple art exhibitions and served as juror for art competitions. Throughout this time, she has continued to create work and improve her technique.