passage lisa chandler
passage lisa chandler
Detail: Look
on Every Exit as an Entrance to Somewhere Else 2012-2017, Acrylic on Linen, 150 x 100cm, NZ $5000
the mere passage of time makes us all exiles The effects of migration, gentrification and alienation are all explored in ‘Passage’ by Lisa Chandler – from migrant workers in Singapore, to the older generation being forced out of traditional hútòngs in Beijing, and gentrification displacing the working class in Leipzig.
has highlighted the increasing nature of exile in contemporary society. It is now commonplace for people to shift countries, some by choice, as in Chandler’s case, but for many others it is by necessity or by force, and for them it can be a difficult and challenging experience.
The themes of urban spaces and places, and the impact of globalisation on city inhabitants have reoccurred in Chandler’s art practice since she completed her Master of Fine Arts in 2012. As a frequent traveller, Chandler’s work is inspired and influenced by, her time spent in global cities.
Solitary and anonymous figures inhabit her paintings, partially obscured but yet present. In ‘Maid 1780’ the maid is numbered rather than named, her face painted out – highlighting the invisibility of hard-working migrants. In ‘The Mall’ and ‘The MRT’ solitary figures are dwarfed by vast urban spaces. And in ‘Passage’ a teenager sits on a step outside an open door – has he just come out or is he about to go in?
Transitioning through urban spaces, such as airports and subways on a regular basis, Chandler is intrigued by the generic space of passageways, and the act of moving through somewhere, both as an anonymous individual, and as part of the chaotic crowd. Passageways, doorways and building structures feature in her paintings, offering a metaphor for looking into the future or back into the past. In 2016, after a four-month artist residency at the Leipzig International Art Programme, she uprooted her life in Nelson and shifted to Leipzig, Germany. Her new transitory lifestyle
For Chandler responding to her environment is important, however equally as important is the process of painting. In each work she strives to find a balance between the image and the materiality of paint, between figuration and abstraction, she says “in each painting it’s a constant struggle to find that balance – I am always painting in detail and then partly destroying it to find that sweet spot”.
Blocking it Out, 2015, Acrylic on Linen, 150 x 100cm, NZ$5000
Look on Every Exit as an Entrance to Somewhere Else 2012-2017 Acrylic on Linen 150 x 100cm NZ $5000
Passage 2016 acrylic on linen 90 x 120cm NZ$4500
The Past is Gone, the Future Has not Yet Come, and the Present at Once Exists and Expires 2017 Acrylic on Linen 150 x 100cm NZ$5000
The Rice is Already Cooked 2015 Acrylic on Linen 100 x 200cm NZ$6000
Sunday, 2016, Acrylic on Linen, 70 x 50cm, NZ$2400
One Day Off, 2016, Acrylic on Linen, 70 x 50cm, NZ$2400
Under Construction, 2016, Acrylic on Linen, 70 x 50cm, SOLD
Maid 1780, 2016, Acrylic on Linen, 70 x 50cm, NZ$2400
The Maill, 2014, Acrylic on Linen, 70 x 50cm, NZ$1200
The MRT 2014, Acrylic on Linen, 70 x 50cm, NZ$1200
Forgotten Space, 2016, Painting on Paper Framed image 40 x 54cm, frame 58 x 72cm, NZ $1500
Two Doors, 2016, Painting on Paper Framed image 40 x 54cm, frame 58 x 72cm, NZ$1500
Passageway, 2016, Mixed Media on Paper Framed image 54 x 40cm, frame 72 x 58cm, SOLD
Abandoned in Spring, 2016, Painting on Paper Framed image 54 x 40cm, frame 72 x 58cm SOLD
Wash Day, 2016, Acrylic on Linen, 70 x 50cm, NZ$1800
biography Lisa Chandler’s art practice reflects an obsession with transitional spaces and the crowds that inhabit them. She explores global cities on foot to collect her source material and to understand the dynamics of the space.
Recent international art projects include: ‘In Transit’ Kuala Lumpur, ‘INSTINC 10 Collaboration’ and ‘(in)visible – seeing the unseen’ exhibitions in Singapore, and residencies in Singapore, China and Germany.
Chandler has a MFA (Hons) from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, Auckland, New Zealand. She presented her thesis paper ‘Negotiating the Non-Place’ at the Affective Landscapes Conference at the University of Derby, England in 2012.
Chandler is represented by galleries in Auckland and Nelson, is a member of the international artist collective ‘Instinctive’ and has works in private collections across New Zealand and in Singapore, America and Australia.
Her paintings explore the tensions between place and non-place, and the effects of gentrification, globalisation and migration. Nonplaces are generic, anonymous and transitory spaces such as airports, subways and shopping malls. Whereas places have a strong sense of community and identity. Urban structures and people intertwine on the canvas through a process of layering, obliterating and tracing. The spaces evolve over time as figures are painted in, painted out and then painted over. The ‘history’ in the layers of paint traces the passage of the crowd and the transformation of urban space.
She has been a finalist in a number of major New Zealand art awards including the National Contemporary Art Award (2015), the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award (2015) and the Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award (2015, 2014 and 2012). Chandler lives and works in Leipzig, Germany and Tasman, New Zealand. In Leipzig she has a studio in the ‘Spinnerei’ an internationally renowned art hub, and when in Tasman she works from an old apple shed.
solo exhibitions
group exhibitions
2017 Passage Red Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand
2017 (in)Visible: 1.0, ION Art Gallery, Singapore
2016 Between Yesterday & Tomorrow Mckee Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand 2015 China Dream, SALT Gallery Nelson, New Zealand 2014 Slice III, Icon White Gallery Upper Moutere, New Zealand 2013 Slice II, LightSpace Gallery Wellington, New Zealand 2013 Slice I, Instinc Gallery, Singapore
2016 Patterns Beyond the Obvious, Spinnerei, Leipzig, Germany 2015 Finalist, National Contemporary Art Award, Waikato Museum 2015 Finalist, New Zealand Painting & Printmaking Award, Waikato 2015 Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award Whakatāne Museum 2014 Instinc 10, Gallery 67, Singapore
2012 In Transit, Red Gallery, Nelson
2014 World Art Exhibition Songzhuang Museum, China
2012 Negotiating the Non-Place Black Asterisk Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2014 Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award Whakatāne Museum
2009 Solo 28, Academy Galleries, Wellington, New Zealand
2013 Cruel City The Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū, Nelson
2009 Faces & Focus Reflections Art Gallery, Nelson New Zealand
2013 re:New:all, Pearce Gallery Auckland 2012 Art on Life Academy Galleries, Wellington 2012 Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Art Award, Whakatāne Museum 2009 Aqua Marine The Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū, Nelson 2007 Winner Landscape/Seascape Award Regional Art Awards, Nelson
reviews & articles
artist talks
Between Yesterday & Tomorrow September 2016 Dr. Sara TrĂśster Klemm, Curator
2016 Floor Talk, Mckee Gallery, Nelson
China Dream September 2015 Anna Marie White, Curator Art Exchange April-June Issue 2015 Singapore International Foundation Pamela Ng A Slice of Life in Exhibition November 2014 Adrienne Matthews, The Nelson Mail Slice June 2013 Fann ZJ, Singapore Mapua Artist to Show Art Practice Overseas April 2012 Anna Pearson, The Nelson Mail interviews 2016 Fresh FM, Nelson, New Zealand 2015 Fresh FM, Nelson, New Zealand 2012 93bFM, Auckland, New Zealand 2012 Arts on Sunday Radio New Zealand National 2012 BBC Derby, England 2012 Fresh FM, Nelson, New Zealand
2015 China Week Nelson 2015 Pecha Kucha, Tasman 2013 LightSpace Gallery, Wellington 2013 Art Week, Auckland 2013 The Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o WhakatĹŤ, Nelson 2013 Instinc Gallery, Singapore 2013 Pecha Kucha, Singapore 2012
Affective Landscapes Conference, University of Derby, England Presented a paper
2012 Red Gallery, Nelson residencies 2016 Leipzig International Artist Programme, Germany 2014
Collaboration Project Instinc Gallery Singapore supported by the Asia New Zealand Foundation
2014 Red Gate Residency Beijing, China 2013
Instinc Gallery Residency Singapore supported by the Asia New Zealand Foundation
the future depends on what we do in the present Mahatma Gandhi
passage lisa chandler
www.lisachandler.co.nz https://www.facebook.com/lisa.chandlerartist/