lisa myers bulmash biography
coming soon
Artist Statement
As a visual artist, I am obsessed with joining elements that seem to have no relationship to each other. I am especially prone to using aged or vintage elements, but not because I yearn for some mythical, simpler time. Rather, I am re-implanting historically excluded voices into the American narrative. I build these new stories through the mediums of collage, assemblage sculpture and altered books.
In each medium, I explore issues of identity, invisible labor, and sacrifice. My collages layer translucent images over opaque scenes to illustrate how the past continues to shape the present. Assemblage sculptures combine 2D and 3D elements to flesh out flattened narratives attached to the Black body. Niches and tiny containers in my altered books compel the viewer to adjust focus onto the individual realities hidden in our shared myths of national unity and meritocracy.
I choose to center Black and female experiences, to expand the classical practice of using an individual narrative to illuminate the general human condition. My hope is that my symbolic language illuminates aspects of life we generally ignore, particularly for those who experience a daily sense of erasure or isolation.
As a visual artist, I am obsessed with joining elements that seem to have no relationship to each other. I am especially prone to using aged or vintage elements, but not because I yearn for some mythical, simpler time. Rather, I am re-implanting historically excluded voices into the American narrative. I build these new stories through the mediums of collage, assemblage sculpture and altered books.
In each medium, I explore issues of identity, invisible labor, and sacrifice. My collages layer translucent images over opaque scenes to illustrate how the past continues to shape the present. Assemblage sculptures combine 2D and 3D elements to flesh out flattened narratives attached to the Black body. Niches and tiny containers in my altered books compel the viewer to adjust focus onto the individual realities hidden in our shared myths of national unity and meritocracy.
I choose to center Black and female experiences, to expand the classical practice of using an individual narrative to illuminate the general human condition. My hope is that my symbolic language illuminates aspects of life we generally ignore, particularly for those who experience a daily sense of erasure or isolation.