Artist

Lisa Solomon

I am quite intrigued by the notion of hybridization; the fusing of elements that may at first glance appear to be unrelated. I also am drawn to found objects - altering them conceptually so that their meanings and original uses or intents are re-purposed. I like when "wrong" things are fused together i.e.: tanks made of bright pink felt, sewing onto paper, coagulant herbs or hunted animals on rifle targets, sewing with out thread (the act of mending with out its mending capabilities), the back side of embroidery shown as the front, flowered tanks "fighting" cute clouds or other things in nature.

I am interested in gender identity - what are the parameters we use to place and name things within a masculine or a feminine sphere? What occurs when triggers and cues are misplaced purposefully confusing our vision? I wonder about the differences and contrasts between hand made and machine made - How culturally the positions of their desirability have flip flopped. How hand-made feeds into the ideas of work ethic/time spent/work never done. What happens when you pair something that's obviously manufactured with an element that is obviously hand crafted?

I am often drawn to objects and images of childhood. This is partially because I am intrigued by their narrative nature, but also because I sincerely believe that your fundamental ideals/morals/ethics/ societatal roles are all formulated during childhood - do you resist that? Acknowledge it? Embrace it in order to subvert it? Is childhood the cornerstone of innocence? Isn't childhood also full of awkwardness? Is it as we age that our youth takes on a sentimental, nostalgic, or bittersweet hue? What of the difficult, painful childhood - is it hidden, never to be revealed? How does our own personal narrative influence what we see and think?

As I labor within the framework of domesticity, performing repetitive, conceivably mundane tasks (like sewing, organizing threads, pinning), I am acutely aware of what is right in front of me - small stitches - being engaged in an all-encompassing activity, and the bigger picture - the search for order, parameters and answers. I am following in the footsteps of the women in my family. I grew up with both my grandmothers and my mother crafting. For them it may appear to be a "nesting" activity, however I see a deep relation in what they make in their "spare time" or in an effort to make a household nicer and my art practices. I am re-claiming some time-honored techniques. I am looking to the past for inspiration, and finding ways to blend old with new. I'm also questioning the notions surrounding ART & CRAFT - are they compatible? Linked? Interchangeable?

I think that my work is closely tied to the practice of drawing. Mine are drawings that incorporate thread and wire as well as charcoal, watercolor and ink, satin, quilting, felt, and the wall as well as paper and canvas. These drawings have seemingly found a place between 2-D and 3-D, shown on the wall, and yet concurrently existing and yearning to be off of it. In this tenuous position my work is, in many senses of the phrase, "between states."

View opening night photos from Lisa's current show "over the river and through the woods"

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