hear me blab

orange chair :: past and present

so... if you are in the area and have nothing to do tomorrow night, Wednesday, March 14th at 7pm...

i'll be talking about me and my work at CCA - on the Oakland Campus - in the textiles department [if you know where dick blick art store is on broadway - it's above that!]. i'm working on finalizing the order of my images and what the heck i'll be saying. *cough cough* i'm hoping there will be questions. [please let there be questions].

above is one of the pieces i sent of for my show at the richard levy gallery . besides the stuff that i'm constantly dealing with [domesticity, feminism, art + craft, etc] i feel as though i'm starting to talk more about history, about longing, about the past and how things change. i'm really getting into wallpaper - as pattern, as personality and more specifically as a marker for time. you know... if you hang a frame on the wall and it doesn't move for 20 years and you remove it - how the color shifts - it's like the wall has a memory. i'm also developing the idea of the beds and chairs having more personalities - not simply interacting with each other as stand-ins for relationships as they have been, but also as entities in their own worlds. what type of person IS this chair? where do they live? what does it say about them. i titled the above piece orange chair :: past and present - as if it's the same chair in the same room, but things have changed - and the thread is what ties the past to the present.....

if you come tomorrow night you might hear me say the above all over again..... OK i got to get back to prepping...

Comments

eshu said…
oh... if only i was in Cali and not Boston, i'd be there in a heartbeat. have a great time, as i'm certain your audience will!
Anonymous said…
this is beautiful....I sooo wish I could come and hear you talk.
I love that there is so much history in your work...the history of your thoughts and creativity.
matirose said…
i just saw your name on the CCA website! bummer i have to work:( i would ask a question! good luck & have fun! xo, mati
Anonymous said…
I love, love, love this piece and this little explanation behind it!
Good luck on your speech tomorrow-I am sure there will be questions.
Anonymous said…
oh, i wish!
jen said…
oh, lisa...this is so beautiful. i love to *hear* you talk about your work, it makes it even more wonderful. i did not notice the thread between the two until reading your description. i wish i could hear you in person! good luck, you will be great.
Anonymous said…
That piece is just fabulous Lisa. I love the detail of the frame that has been removed and the wallpaper...really incredible. Oh how I wish I were going to be in Oakland tomorrow! I will be there in spirit, and in my studio grading in actuality. Ho hum.
Tara said…
I love this piece! As soon as I saw it, I was reminded of the Frida Kahlo self-portrait where there are two Frida's and a string connects them(ok, I just looked it up and it's not a string, it's veins connecting the two hearts...but it sparked something)...and because of that spark, I immediately thought of the chairs as personalities.
Wish I could come and ask questions...
Thanks for the shot of art in a long day!
Anonymous said…
I love the blinding yellow-orange. It makes you have to squint your eyes just like in a sunlit room where objects can be hidden under the glare, or at old photographs' fainting images. Sunlight becomes a personality too, because it leaves its mark by revealing and fading over time. I love this piece! You have really succeeded in expressing the person of that old chair.
Good luck with your talk!
Sara said…
I really loved that piece and I think that the concept of the furniture having personality and memories makes lot of sense.

I wish you the best!
julie said…
What can i say lisa...just so STUNNING! And you 'explained' it so well...i love these ideas you are talking about (fits in a lot with my ideas too - i just never know how to translate it..)
"the past and how things change" - LOVE!!!!!!

it makes me think a little about amisha and the quilt she found for $5...what journey has it been on seen it was created..

wish wish wish i could be there..:) xxx

Maybe you could do a podcast some day..?
bugheart said…
how i would
love to go...
i'd have
lots of
questions!
and the
wallpaper...
memory...
i am so
with you
on that...
good luck-
i am sure
it
will be
fantastic!
Anonymous said…
Wonderful thoughts and beautiful work. I love how you see things so differently, to think that walls have memories of what was once there, how it leaves a mark...nostalgia / conjuring much emotion. Love it, I so wish I could hear you talk about your work.
Anonymous said…
i think a lot of these themes in you work is why it resonates with so many of us...i love to read you explanations and would love even more to hear you speak. one day, perhaps at the opening of the lisa s...
hannah said…
if only...

love that new piece!
Unknown said…
this is so gorgeous it makes me wanna weep. wonderful, lisa.

i like the idea of history and objects having a history. i have so many old objects in my home, and i often wonder about their history. i would love to see the things they have seen.
erin said…
i wish i lived a lot closer :(

this piece is awesome.
Anonymous said…
And when will you be giving this talk in DC? :)
Good luck and I hope people show up and give you lots to think about
Cally said…
Oh Lisa, a beautiful piece and i'm loving the direction you are going with this work. i totally agree re the wallpaper, i'm a sucker for it, it says so much.

my kitchen could be looking half ok bu now except that I'm a bit hooked on the 7 layers of wallcoverings that were found as i removed the cupboards. not one of them is at all nice, but the history of it, and the fact that someone else thought they were nice, and yet applied them so badly (chunks missing, lumpy layers), something about that appeals to me.

it's like the mobile home version of uncovering an amazing fireplace behind some panels. to make it bearable to live with (it really was TOO gross) i painted it all white, but the patterns and textures still show so now it looks like a choice rather than an error.

when I pulled back one lauer of VILE paper in the hall i found it was hiding a head sized hole in the wall, which had been stuffed with plastic bags and a kids wellie boot! honestly, my desire to have an installation of the de-construction of my home was HUGE.

I loved the idea of those bags along a wall with the boots at the end, and the layers of wallpaper shreddings all stiched and framed with my thoughts and some history of the house around them.

Oops, i'm rambling again, but I don't know many other people who would understand that urge.
shari said…
i loved reading your thoughts on what you've been exploring in your work. beautiful wallpaper. i like the idea of walls having a memory; they surely hold so much from containing the lives of the people within. such a wonderful post. xo
said…
love the new layout! wish I could come to your talk-
:)
good luck!
jenifer lake said…
this is such a lovely piece. i really enjoyed reading your thoughts too. in art at school i have my 6th graders make a chair self portrait each year - i love how they figure out what elements of their personalities & characteristics of themselves fit into the theme of a chair. how the back is supportive, or how rolling, decorative arms show that you like being fancy -- or what have you...your descriptions of your piece reminded of how much i love that project! hope your talk went well!
I am quite the goof you know....so many times I think I have left comments here and I havn't. I think I reply in my head in so many ways...maybe I think that will work out some time and actually become real? ;)

Well, ms. solomon - you have done it again, producing another corker of a piece! This is seriously great. I am loving all your thoughts on connection, time -place....so great how these transpire into your work. Having big art lust and envy all at the one time...chuckle chuckle.

Thinking of you and your talk! - know you will be great. Don't I wish I could be in the backrow to call out a question or two...then I'd shout you a beer for afters to celebrate!

hope it went well - looking forward to hearing all about it. xox
Anonymous said…
Wow, Lisa- there is such poetry in your work. Very nice.
Tiffany said…
Lovelovelove the orangey/red and yellow! It makes me itch to paint the spare bedroom at home (the one packed to the gills with STUFF) in those colors and make a coordinating quilt! It makes me think of spring and summer and warm weather and flowers and can you tell I've had enough of winter? One more blow-out snow fall tonight and winter will be done...I hope...I pray!

have a great weekend,
Tiffany
lisa solomon said…
hello my friends... thank you for wanting to be here for my talk! that means so much to me. i wish it could happen....

and thank you all for such kind kind words about my work. i am constantly amazed that anyone cares at all what i'm thinking about in my own little world.


tara! oh how i love frida - any connection you saw to her work is just so lovely. thank you!

cally... you story moves me in so many ways. i wish i could see pictures of what you tlk about.

julie... i'm not sure a podcast would work as you'd have to see images, but maybe we can figure out a way to do that. i'd love to actually answer any questions that you have!

kelly - figure out a way for me to get to DC and i'd be there in a heart beat !! i wish i had more of a travel fund!
Anonymous said…
I would have loved to hear you blab :) your new piece is amazing, as is your approach and concept!!
Anonymous said…
I love the background wallpaper! I want some for my wall. The colors are great!
Anonymous said…
wish i could be there to hear your talk!! =)
Jan Halvarson said…
oh! another favorite! seriously!
Anonymous said…
These are just stunning. Love them.
paula said…
In the fear that it may be too late (?) I wish you the greatest success with your show. I'm sure it will be, from what I have seen over here.
Your work is growing stronger and so much consistency I find. Well done! You should be proud, really!

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