my solo show at Elms Window Gallery (April 17-May 5) 2024
This exhibition shows 3 of my largest works so far. They are self-portraits, of sorts. Colourful, with collage and mixed media elements. I wanted to show my body the way I actually see it. Really see it. Partially inspired by the Koerpergefuehlsbilder (body feeling pictures) by Maria Lassnig, where she paints only what she can feel.
I don’t have a mirror right now (except a small hand mirror to sort out eyebrows etc) and it does influence how I think about the body, my own body – I write about that here). So I only see my body from the torso downwards, and only the front. I see my face a lot as I have a day job in an office environment (remotely, thankfully), so I’m on zoom, teams etc all day (here is a piece I wrote about that during the pandemic). So I see my own face mirrored back at me most of the day, but always from a screen.
Body and face exist in separate spaces, but are connected via threads, like cables. Who charges what/whom here? The face is travelling globally, while the mobility-restricted body is in the one room I have, the room that is studio, office, living space, with an ever-present laptop screen.
I have knee issues that are often painful, to the point of being barely able to walk. As I was making the pictures I was still recovering from double knee surgery for pain management. The series touches on what living and working with physical pain is like. The pain that comes and goes, always unseen. It touches upon the disembodiment in the online space. It invades and encroaches, relentlessly. The body as the unseen battery pack for the head, that nicely composed head that is invited to a business meeting while the unruly body remains outside, unseen, unacknowledged, and often in pain. I wanted to find a way to bring all of this together in an attempt to show what it feels like to be me in my body right now, with all these things going on.
On screen we are all perfect. The blurred background hides everything else.
The series is called “All in a Day’s Work” and shows a “day job day” from start to finish. 3 of the pieces are in the exhibition. 11am, 3pm and 9pm. They are mixed media on A2 paper: Acrylic paint, paper and woolen thread.
Art by Lior Locher 