October 21–December 1, 2017
Erika Lizée’s installations are mathematically driven. She finds beauty in the complex patterns of geometry and uses phenomena like the Fibonacci sequence to create forms that follow the curves of the golden spiral. In her multi-layered works, Lizée assembles painted pieces of Duralar cut into biomorphic shapes to create enigmatic installations that extend off the wall into the gallery space. The works have a scientific as well as science fiction allure, and explore the relationship between the known and the unknown.
Eternally Searching (0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13) appears to emerge from behind the central wall of the gallery. It then literally extends diagonally onto the two adjoining walls. A drawn purple orb made from a spiraling organic chain appears to hover in a black abyss beyond the wall and is seen through faux oval openings extracted from the wall’s surface. Organically shaped pieces of Duralar, painted in shades of blue and purple, are linked to the wall and flow across the room, continuing along the adjacent walls and out into the space. At the edges of this fabricated nebula, Lizée has suspended clear plastic pods, each containing an isolated floral shape. The result is a sculptural installation created by connecting many painted curvilinear forms that reference both the expansive sky and the deep sea. In Lizée’s fantastical installation, it is as if an entire other world floats behind the gallery walls and only a small fragment of this larger entity has been allowed in for viewing.
Erika Lizée. Eternally Searching (0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13…), 2017. Installation View at Gallery 825. Acrylic on Duralar.
8’ x 69’ x 3’. Photo: Panic Studio LA.
Lizée uses given and constructed walls as barriers separating two and three-dimensional space to create illusionistic works that exist on a metaphysical plane. The trompe-l’oeil installation depicts the familiar and the impossible simultaneously. What sets Lizée’s work apart is the precise collaging of the disparate parts and the way each segment flows together. Light helps to maximize the sense of movement as the installation is carefully lit to cast evocative shadows.
By following a sequence of numbers and creating an algorithm for compositing biomorphic shapes into an array, Lizée has fashioned an astonishing installation. The work is engrossing on multiple levels as she has created an artwork that makes the metaphoric and mathematical both seductive and tangible.
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