viruses and toxins and art fairs

would this post title ever be a google search? hmmm

imidacloprid

i drove to san francisco in our bizarre may winter rainstorm today to drop off some work for the san francisco fine art fair that is happening this weekend.

above in a new doily toxin piece. [remember the other doily toxins i did with aurora robson for our show in jan 2008 ?].

when gwen wrote about imidacloprid i knew i had to draw it. so i finally did. and i decided it was time to start adding some other 3D elements to my work. so i busted out the felt stash and the pins.i was really excited because the molecular structure included a hexagon - so it's a direct visual correlation to a honeycomb. i love coincidences like that.

imidacloprid bottom detail

i'm actually kind of excited about this piece. often i end up liking, not liking, rejecting, liking again and then ultimately being unsure about a piece. but this one i just like. even as time has passed and it's been hanging in my studio. i still like it. that's a rare thing.

i also took some new virus drawings. same idea - but instead of toxins i'm representing the viruses with doilies. [after the little got RSV this winter i had viruses on the brain.] i can't seem to shake this thing that i do - representing something ugly/scary/unyielding in a hopefully beautiful way. i wonder if this is my shtick. what i will continue to research and do my entire art life. i guess we'll see huh?

anyway - here are the drawings. my work can be seen in richard levy's booth and in walter maciel's booth at the fair [which is at Fort Mason in San Francisco]. if anyone wants free passes i might be able to garner you some. send me an email....

rotavirus

influenza

adenovirus
[this one i'm particularly fascinated by - mostly because i had to configure the doily into a strange shape -- and because of the dots. it makes the doily harder to "read" - i'm interested in this idea].

19 may

when i was dropping off the work i had flashbacks to my gallery working days. it was always really fun, but also stressful, to do a fair. so much work. so little time. so much standing. by hour 3 i would have all the prices to all the pieces hanging in the booth flying out of my mouth rapid fire. by hour 6 you knew which pieces would garner the most questions - and you stopped counting how many times you answered the same question. my old bosses girlfriend and i would count THE fashion item of the season opening night [or the outdated faux paux]. 46 fendi bagette bags [12 pashima's with fringe]. there are aspects i miss about that life, but there are also things i don't !

have a good week!

Comments

Jacqui Dodds said…
Love all your new work especially the new doily toxin piece the colours really cheer me up and make me smile! Thanks also for the link to Gwen's blog about the bees - very interesting and worthwhile research.
melissa s. said…
again, I'm stunned by your work lisa. so amazing. and I agree, people watching is as much fun as art watching :-)
Your title does sum it up. If the toxins and viruses intrigue you, I'm glad you are following that desire. You do make those icky things beautiful. This makes the topic more interesting. Your memory of counting THE fashion item of the season made me chuckle. Sometimes that's what it takes. One year, a while back, I worked a photography fair at Fort Mason for a German gallery. I did not enjoy it at all, but I did make a friend. She lives in Berlin and we still keep in touch.
gracia said…
Always great to see the work you are working on or have recently finished, to hear your thoughts behind a piece, and I am always especially glad when I see that you have a new post up or images to share. I often see all the things I could have done in a work or I have zoomed ahead in my mind and I'm thinking about the work that will follow, the work I feel more connected to (though this is not always the case). All this art stuff, why, it's an exhausting process.
g xo
tiel said…
Lisa, I love and respect your work so much. the doily/crochet elements are just gorgeous. I wish it wasn't night time here, so I could get my paints out.
Katrina said…
i've been hearing the buzz about the SF art fair and i'm SO glad you are sharing work there. i love the new pieces, and agree that sometimes the non-art pieces of life need to just take center-stage. so true.
julie said…
hi lisa,

i can understand why you like this piece - really enjoyed reading this post!
i love how your doilies 'fit' into so many ideas/themes. xx
Your works are simply gorgeous and so are the others. They are so bright and exotic. What a talented person you are.
molly said…
lisa, this work is beautiful. the doilies are so amazing. i'm so struck by their colors. beautiful!
babelfish said…
I love these pieces, especially reading how you often go back to 'representing something ugly/scary/unyielding in a hopefully beautiful way' - isn't that how a piece of artwork is supposed to be? help someone look at the world differently- it has a poetic quality I think...
jon said…
love. love. love. just love!

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