Artmaking as a restorative act knows no boundaries of age, time, or place. For Elizabeth Layton, a sixty-eight-year-old Kansas homemaker, it was literally a lifesaver. Suffering from bipolar disorder and deep depression, Layton was introduced to the technique of blind contour drawing in an art class at the local university. Drawing became a lifeline that slowly lifted Layton from her depression and empowered her with a voice and validation that brought color and joy back into her life. Despite the challenges of facing each new day through the fog of depression, Layton had never shirked duties, and her approach to artistic self-examination was just as uncompromising. In her drawings, Layton objectively contemplated her own life and circumstances, and her strengths and weaknesses. She commented on the pressures of family, politics, poverty, morality, history, religion, and feminism; art provided a platform that gave rise to a newfound confidence and passion.

Layton was born in Wellsville, Kansas. She came from a family of writers and journalists and was herself managing editor of the Wellsville Globe for a time. After a divorce, Layton raised five children on her own despite her deepening depression and difficulty dealing with the demands of daily life and survival. She resisted the label "artist" and called herself a housewife and drawer of pictures. This plain speaking is typical of her drawings, which directly explore painful personal and societal issues. In Garden of Eden, a woman who resembles Layton has entered the grounds through a gate whose title is read in reverse. A dream catcher hangs from the words, presaging the lush but dangerous botanical garden that is beautiful but hallucinogenic and nightmarish. Nature, fertile and unforgiving, ensnares her as her mouth opens in a silent scream. Her long hair, scantily clad body, and ripe setting suggest youthfulness, but instead her old and naked flesh is revealed through the unyielding leaves that twine around her.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Garden of Eden, 1977" exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020.