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I Make Site-Specific Installations With Acrylic Paint And This One Took Me 23 Hours To Install

My name is Erika Lizée and I am a Los Angeles based artist. For over 10 years, I have been using acrylic paint to create illusion based, site-specific installations. In my artwork, I embrace a sense of wonder. I imagine gallery walls as thresholds between different realms or states of existence, between the visible and the invisible, between this physical plane we inhabit and other worldly planes beyond our awareness. The use of illusion in my work is important, as it gives rise to simultaneous feelings of wonder and uncertainty in viewers. It serves as a metaphor for how we can feel such awe for the beauty and complexity of the world we live in, while also harboring intense feelings of doubt and anxiety surrounding the big questions we have regarding where we come from, what our purpose is, and what happens when we eventually move beyond this life.

In 2016, I began studying the numbers one through ten as well as sacred geometry, with the aim of exploring the interconnectedness of the world we live in through numbers and shapes. During this time, each installation has been inspired by a different number. The uniqueness and importance of each number can be found throughout time and across cultures, spanning the principles of math and science and the beliefs of myth and religion. For many of us, there is an ever-present urge for transcendence, going beyond the mundane to experience the sublime. Through my artwork, I hope to provide an otherworldly experience for viewers.

My piece “Seed of Life” is inspired by the number 6, as you will see 6 overlapping circles in the center of the elements that appear to exist within the wall. This piece is currently installed at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, in Mesa, Arizona. It is part of the “Visual Syntax: Contemporary Abstract Art” exhibit, on view through August 6th. Images of this and many other installations can be viewed on my website at:

https://www.erikalizee.com/installation/

You can also find me on IG or FB, @erikalizee

More info: erikalizee.com