Lisa Espenmiller

Statement

In this phase of my life as artist, making art functions as a means of deepening my Zen practice and furthering my understanding of The Tao in the same way that my practice of sitting zazen twice a day is, or writing haiku, or tending our California native garden. My creative expression co-arises with my spiritual seeking.

The lines and washes of color in my paintings and works on paper, visual descriptions of the chi or breath-energy that flows through all things, seek to sober and quiet the mind. When the mind quiets it becomes susceptible to inspiration, to movement from the microcosmic to the macrocosmic. Whether the body of work attempts to depict the inner scenery of breath-energy (The Way, Where you come from), the ever-shifting inner and outer landscape (the groundless ground), or talismanic power (chant) it all desires to engender a stilling of the hyperactive mind in the viewer.

The paintings and works on paper function both as mirror and window. Viewers are encouraged to stand before each one allowing the piece to offer a reflection of what’s inside or a view into another layer of reality.

As in meditation, my process requires that I remain rooted and immersed in the realization of the piece for a focused, uninterrupted period of time. There is little time or space for the logical mind to intervene in an attempt to control the outcome. The pace of each line, the movement of the brush or pen are guided by intuition and “no-mind”, accepting and trusting what presents itself in each fluid, changing moment.

Sabine Reckewell

Statement

Since 2010 I have built three-dimensional room-sized installations. I am interested in placing artwork in a given architectural context, and I am using linear materials, repetition and geometry to create volumes. I think of them as three-dimensional drawings.

From a distance these installations appear as distinct shapes. Up close they dissolve into linear patterns that shift and change as the viewer's position shifts. Shadows from light sources can create additional visual patterns.

My process is very straightforward and I am only using very simple tools and techniques. These installations look precise, but also have a deliberate hand-made quality to them.

My first consideration is the space I have to work with and how I can take advantage of its dimensions and specific properties, walls, floor, ceiling, lighting, etc.

The second consideration is a concept for the placement of the lines. I have been exploring simple geometric shapes. Angles, triangles, curves, and straight lines are mapped out, and the linear materials are stretched across space from repetitious, evenly spaced corresponding points. Repetition gives the work a meditative quality.

I have mainly used two basic ideas for the construction of these installations. One is to connect corresponding points of two different shapes mapped out on two walls with straight lines so that one shape is transformed into another across space. The other is to stretch lines of the same or regularly increasing lengths across space and to slowly release the tension of the lines by placing them further apart or closer together. This way I am taking advantage of gravity, as the lines automatically curve down.  Both approaches create varying densities and overlaps.

Finally, the materials I choose are crucial. I have been using soft and pliable linear materials of varying widths such as ribbons, ropes and tapes. These are nailed or otherwise affixed to the walls, suspended, or tied to metal channels. It's the materials that give these installations their personality.

My installations usually are not meant to be permanent, movable sculptures. Drawings and notes allow me to recreate some of them in similar spaces. But most of them are site specific. They exist in a particular space for a limited amount of time and then get rolled up and put away.

Espenmiller resume 2015.pdf

Reckewell resume 2015.pdf