Lisa Marsh is a fine arts painter living and working in Los Angeles CA and founder of SOPA Studios, a studio space and collective located in South Pasadena
Statement v4 – for Peep Projects
BIO
My studio “SOPA Studios” is in South Pasadena, just north of downtown Los Angeles. My practice has long focused on figurative subjects, most recently working with live models. I managed a collective out of SOPA since 2009 which went dark during pandemic. Since re-opening SOPA I have been offering life model sessions to the community. I have largely shown my work at SOPA Studios and at Gallery 825, where I am a member of the Los Angeles Art Association.
Currently my practice is focused on paintings and drawings that examine the genre of the female nude, exploring representation of the female body in art and in life, how that imagery builds upon an entrenched history of painterly representation, and reflecting on the agency of contemporary women as expressed in the hopes/ trepidations/ challenges and dreams shared by the models I engage. For the Peep Projects Two-Person Juried I am proposing a selection from that work. Entry jpegs show sample drawings (studies of my models) to be shown in pairs or grids and sample paintings developed from studies, including some paintings in progress. Additional paintings from the series may be viewed on my website at lisamarshart.com/recentpaintings.
STATEMENT
The body of work I am engaged with (entitled “Reflective Surface”) is comprised of painted portraits developed from charcoal studies of professional models. The work examines the paradox that the genre of the female nude retains popular acceptance as an indulgence in fantasy ideals about womanhood, even as it persists in perpetuating norms that make women’s bodies vulnerable to voyeurism, analysis, exploitation and subjugation.
Figures within the work reflect of the uncertainties that women face and are painted in environments inspired by significant works from the canon. Paint is used expressively, with marks and color depicting flesh as a reflective surface, symbolic of the ongoing involvement of the female nude in reflecting mores, constraints, and dichotomies within the larger culture. The figures gaze into an uncertain future, musing on the potential of their self-hood, career, freedoms and dreams. Compositions feature a myriad of reflective surfaces (pools, tubs, marble floors) and devices of theater (stools, curtains, drapery) underscoring the artificiality of the fantasy that has marked the genre since its inception.
Reflective Surface looks to transcend narratives that have persisted since the emergence of the female nude genre in the Rennaissance and help recontextualize the form in art.
Reflective Surface is a body of work that examines the genre of the female nude.
Depictions of women’s bodies in paintings are cemented in our collective minds, engendering ideas of how a woman’s body should look, act and hold self-regard. Progress in creating a more inclusive woman-made and multi-racial representation is strong. However, just as there is irony in the fact that images of idealized womanhood were created through a male lens, today’s woman works to reappropriate narratives assigned to her body in a climate that threatens fundamental rights concerning that body.
Comprised of paintings developed from charcoal studies of professional models and drawings from among the studies, Reflective Surface examines the paradox that the genre of the female nude retains popular acceptance as a means of indulging in fantasy ideals about womanhood, even as it persists in perpetuating norms that make women’s bodies vulnerable to voyeurism, analysis, exploitation and subjucation.
The figures within the work reflect these uncertainties. The figures are portrayed in environments inspired by significant works from the canon. Paint is used expressively, with marks depicting flesh as a reflective surface, symbolic of the ongoing involvement of the genre in reflecting the mores, values, constraints, paradoxes and dichotomies extant within the larger culture. Titles are suggestive of the inner-world of the figures as they gaze into an uncertain future, musing on potentials for selfhood, career, freedom and dreams. Compositions include a myriad of reflective surfaces (pools, tubs, marble floors) as well as the devices of theater (stools, curtains, drapery) underscoring the artificiality of the fantasy that has marked the genre since its inception.
The work looks to transcend narratives that have persisted since the emergence of the genre in the Rennaissance and help recontextualize the female nude in art.
