December 15, 2016

Liz Guzman’s Kitsch Collection

written by AAC Marketing and Development Intern Erica Sobers

Fall SOLOS continues through Sunday, but when it closes, it’ll be gone forever! Read about Liz Guzman’s exhibition (one of seven in our main show), then stop by AAC to see it all! Admission is always free!

Liz Guzman, Untitled, 2016, sand, plaster, foam, plastic, and fake palm tree leaves, 36 x 10 x 20 inches
Untitled

Using a mix of acrylic, plastic, and puff paint, Liz Guzman’s latest untitled exhibition brings a tropical, feminine flair to our Smith Gallery.

The collection offers many stand out pieces from Hearts and Daggers, inspired by the selection at a nail salon, to the statement piece in the middle of the gallery which uses palm tree leaves [faux] and sand.

The collection’s small pieces are tied together with a few large  canvas’ one of which reads “Esos Besos,” Spanish for those kisses. The many textures and neon colors make for a refreshing and visually appealing display of art. Guzman shares what inspired this body of work and what she hopes viewers will take away from it.


Why and how did this body of work begin to form in your mind?

Liz Guzman, Heart and Daggers, foam rocks, fake nails, poured plastic,puff paint, found fabric, plastic martini swords 16x20in
Heart and Daggers

My work in respect to landscape has been an ongoing series of paintings and smaller works centered in material focus. I work with what I know, and in some ways, I’m trying to rediscover the place or things I use as subject matter. So the work does not come from a predetermined idea. However, if I were to name the overarching themes, I guess it would be synthetic feminine beauty, kitsch, and arousing sunsets.

What inspired this body of work?

I am inspired greatly by television. I love the concept of nature as a supernatural entity of its own: an allegorical setting of psychological darkness as an actual physical plane, as in from the show “Twin Peaks.”

A professor at college once told me that I’m an abstract painter trapped in a figurative painters body.

I am also a feminist, and I care deeply about the expression of femininity and the power it has in equal social value to masculinity.

What do you want the audience to take away from this work?

I would hope that the paintings would invoke the kind of creepiness and total fixation that you might experience while watching a heat lightning storm in total darkness.

In three sentences or less, tell us about your process.

Liz Guzman, Spider Web, 2016, acrylic, plastic, puff paint on canvas, 16x20 inches
Spider Web

My studio practice is more about the synthesizing of objects I collect or what visually appeals to me, in order to realize a more collective meaning.

I like to combine concurrent sensations, sensuality of synthetic materials/ gradient landscapes along with darker nuance that hints at the unknown.

A professor at college once told me that I’m an abstract painter trapped in a figurative painters body.

 

 

 


 Liz received her BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Richmond, VA in 2013. Her work has been featured in several galleries throughout Virginia as well as New York, Miami, and New Orleans.

Her exhibition will be on view until Sunday, December 18th along with the rest of the FALL SOLOS 2016 artists. Stop by and see this great show before it closes. You can also read about it in the Washington Post!

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