| Lili Artel |
 Ooooh!
Mixed Media Enlargement, 20K |
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 Prickly
FeathersMixed Media Enlargement, 16K |
 Petites
Sensual Polymorphies(Detail) Mixed Media with Latex Enlargement, 13K |
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My sculptures appeal to the skin, our largest memory organ. They languidly
revolve around eroticism, to finally outflank and probe it. The objects I
create are abstract, their consistency flabby, fluffy, soft, pulpy, rigid
or silky. To be seen, my sculptures must be touched. Therefore, I invite
the viewers to interact with my art.
The humorous tone of my art also embodies its participatory modus-operandi. My sculptures are often comical and exude a self-important, tongue-in-cheek style. On the other hand, it is serious and has a biting conceptual undertone. As a French artist residing in San Francisco, and as a contemporary of Postmodernity, I constantly feed my artistic inquiry by questioning if it is possible to create an art that encompasses more generous qualities than that of the traditional male heterosexual erotica. My sculptures are personal responses to this question. They titillate the body as much as the mind and, above all, reassert our sensual common denominator regardless of gender, sexual preference and age. |
 First
Oak1992 Acrylic on Canvas Enlargement, 78K |
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Grandmother Oak1994 Acrylic & Glass on Canvas & Wood Enlargement, 48K |
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I know that art is one way in which people may speak across all barriers
and in which the human spirit can be awakened to wholeness. By working in
partnership with the unconscious, I search for elements which are
poetically ambiguous and which have power to evoke responses in the viewer.
I have, for the most part, returned to the abstract and non-objective to
make again statements which are beyond words.
My dominant theme has always been the vulnerability and beauty of inner and outer nature. This now includes the joy and over-riding victory which the energies of creation, properly understood, will always have, with or without humans. I find this idea full of hope, since each of us is nature, though we may not always be in human form. Works of art are their own worlds; paint and other media must exist
formally and expressively on their own terms, for the sake of the work
alone, apart from any content. The work may demand its own rules, yet it
can be strongly supported by whatever crafts, disciplines or techniques are
necessary to itself alone. An artist best serves art by profound
exploration, search and questioning, rather than by imitation, fashion,
appropriation or mere cleverness. Art is the expression of passion; craft
is the containment of it. |
 Feto
/ Fetus(Detail) 1995 Silver Gelatin Print Full Image, 20K |
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 Los Tres Hermanos /The Three Brothers 1996 Silver Gelatin Print |
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Criaturas Orb?reas / Tree Creatures is a project I have been nurturing for
three years, and I look forward to its growth. One of the most powerful
aspects of this project is the fact that ?The Fetus? was the first
photograph I made in this body of work ? the beginning of life, the life of
this body of work ? and out of ?The Fetus? Criaturas Arb?reas / Tree
Creatures has grown to over thirty images.
My desire for this project is for you, the viewer, to leave here with a
little different perspective on trees and the important effect they have on
us and the world we are borrowing ? to see them more deeply, to feel them
differently.
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In these prints I have found a new freedom of expression. Birds have always fascinated me. The birds? ability to spread their wings and glide through the air is poetic and alluring. Their freedom of flight represents to me the freedom and resourcefulness of the human spirit. Birds represent the spirit within myself. In carving their images, I too can aspire to a freedom of spirit and can soar with the passion of being alive. As human beings we are not alone; we have nature and her birds to remind us of our inner spirit. I noticed these pelicans one summer day while at Santa Cruz with my family.
They roosted on the natural bridges and seemed not to notice the people
watching them from the beach. Their interaction became a play of nature
just for us as they squawked and jostled with each other. When they felt
like catching fish, they would fly in unison, scooping fish from the water
in their large beaks. It struck me how graceful they were in flight, but
how ungainly and funny they were on the rocks. The pelicans entertained us
as we relaxed and played on the beach. As day turned to evening and we
returned home, these fine birds remained, living their lives by the beach.
When things turn stressful, I remember the pelicans and how graceful they
are one moment, how funny the next.
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