LIZ HARRIS // repeating patterns

On view September 7 - October 2, 2011
Opening reception Friday September 9, 6-9pm

In Repeating Patterns, Liz Harris explores the cogitative and spatial qualities of linear motifs. From elemental designs that spread slowly across the white paper to those which stutter forward in calculated regiments, her meticulously hand-drawn images display an almost obsessive attention to line and pattern. However, despite such concentrated artistic effort, Harris ultimately eschews the cold precision of 60s Op art in favor of more organic textures and subtler forms. Mirroring the repetition of line as mantra, the act of drawing becomes a mode of meditation through which Harris both acknowledges her inability to make perfect lines, and questions the utility of such perfection in the first place.

Pairing many of the works in such a manner that encourages analysis, Harris additionally seeks to examine the spatial relationships connecting her unique patterns. By amplifying the resonant space between pieces, she transforms the exhibition space into a mirror hall wherein aesthetic similarities converge and open up onto a new, albeit impossible, space. Harris scatters mementos from this uncanny universe, a withered glove, a mask- like slip of skin, throughout her pieces, casting the patterns as magic receptacles for either individual solace or universal connectivity.

BIO
Portland-based artist and musician Liz Harris received her Bachelor of Art from UC Berkeley in 2002. Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries throughout Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Tokyo, and Portland and she has also received support from such institutions as the Galeria Zé Dos Bois (Lisbon) and Issue Project Room (New York). Harris’ experimental music and field-recording project Grouper recently released the vinyl 7” Water People as part of a residency with the Ballroom Marfa Foundation (Texas).
 

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