LISA McCLEARY

Wooden Skins of Our Times

Lisa McCleary New York, USA

(Previous page) Lisa McCleary Valkyrie, 2019 Oil on panel 40.5 x 50.5 cm See availability @ricegallery.art

Lisa McCleary Your Grace, 2019 Oil on panel 40.5 x 50.5 cm See availability @ricegallery.art

“Through the medium of oil paint, this series approaches portraiture and the tactile sense, while referencing elements of neoclassical and surrealist painting. I utilize the tradition of the clay bust in art history and conflate it with the skin surface to create anthropomorphic sculptural beings.

My practice considers notions of affected flesh, scar tissue and tattoos to interrogate the relationship between pain, desire and ownership. I focus on the tattoo as a temporal marker on the body and a signifier of identity and the alternative. My interests lie with the concept of markmaking, both in painting and on the flesh.

I am drawn towards imagery that is both attractive and repulsive, the seductive surface of the paintings and invisible brushstrokes contrast the unsettling imagery of manipulated flesh. This series of work stems from my longstanding investigation of painting as a form, which can access deep psychological states while negotiating notions of desire. I explore mediated corporeality, at turns rendering the body into an abject and sensuous sculpture filtered through myriad screens.

I employ illusionistic oil painting techniques to render tactile sculptural imagery on a flat wooden surface; to mirror the way we receive images on the screen. While there may be representations of touch, there may actually be nothing to feel.”

Text by the artist

(Previous page) Lisa McCleary Valkyrie, 2019 Oil on panel 40.5 x 50.5 cm