Liza Sylvestre: Meridians

Mixed-media artist Liza Sylvestre is inspired by the human body and how senses move throughout it. Her swirling, organic, fine-lined drawings and paintings are influenced by a profound hearing loss that began when she was six years old, an experience that drove her interest in exploring how we as human beings perceive the world through our senses. 

Liza Sylvestre’s paintings grow out of simple things; single marks or a gesture hinted at with an overlapping of color. Her paintings develop slowly and with intention, the final product a reflection of an organic process and intuition. Images of the natural world are often evident in her work - the patterns that light makes on water, the space that a tree canopy creates or stars unfolding in a field of black universe. Sand settles on the ocean's bottom the same way that paint sediment settles on a panel's surface. Rivers of color pour into each other and create new shades. The water leaves as the paint dries and another color and texture is left behind. These images surface naturally as Sylvestre visually emulates how the natural world works.

Related: Read our review of Meridians by Russ White 

Her new body of work, Meridians, centers more specifically on the artist's exploration of connection with the body and the physicality of creating the work. The word "Meridians" references both geography and Eastern medicine. It indicates both an imaginary physical line joining a series of points together and a set of pathways in the body along which energy flows. Each of these paintings is a reflection of the space the artist enters when she creates and the relationship and dialogue that forms between herself and the work as she moves slowly through the steps of creation.

Artist Discussion - Dec 30th 6:30PM 
Join PF Curator, Tricia Khutoretsky, in conversation with NE Minneapolis-based painter, Liza Sylvestre to discuss her current solo exhibit, Meridians at Public Functionary.  RSVP on Facebook

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Liza Sylvestre holds a BA in Fine Art from the University of Minnesota. Her art practice started in Miami, FL where she lived for over six years before returning to her home city of Minneapolis. Sylvestre’s work has been shown nationally in many cities including Miami, FL, Berkeley, CA and Portsmouth, NH. She recently completed a 25 piece commission for the 4 star James Hotel on Miami Beach and one of her paintings is now part of the permanent collection of the Rochester Museum of Fine Art in New Hampshire. Sylvestre is the co-founder of Creating Language Through Arts, an educational arts residency that focuses on using art as a means of communication when there are language barriers present due to hearing loss. In 2014 she was awarded both an Artist Initiative and Arts Learning grant from the MN State Arts Board. Currently she is a recipient of a VSA Jerome Emerging Artists Grant and has a fellowship through Artist(s) on the Verge.

EXHIBIT HASHTAG: #MeridiansPF 

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Read our review of Meridians by Russ White