Lisa Zwerling

Lisa Zwerling's work has been exhibited regularly at First Street Gallery, at other galleries in the U.S., and internationally in England, Italy, and the Netherlands. In the spring of 2000, the Frye Art Museum in Seattle did a two month exhibition of the artist's paintings from the last decade and published a splendid catalogue with an essay by Robert Rosenblum.

Lisa Zwerling paints figures and animals in imaginary landscapes. Each painting feels like a narrative, but the viewer does not need to know what is going on; rather, the picture creates a feeling. Landscape itself becomes a metaphor of the human condition. While most of the landscapes are painted from imagination informed by observation, the figures and animals are painted from life.

"Sunrise" (slide #1) depicts the glorious beginning of the daily cycle. There are 23 birds circling the sky. One large bird perches on a tree over a sleeping woman who is covered by fur. It is the dawn of humanity. In "Forest Fire" (slide #2) the peacock could be seen as beauty endangered or as the phoenix who rises from fire to be reborn.

Smaller single figure pictures also reflect Lisa Zwerling's interest in psychology. When there are no human figures, an animal, sometimes hidden, represents the mind at work in the landscape. In "My Black Heart" (slide #3) a wolf strides across the canvas atop a broken wall. It was painted from life in the Canadian Rockies. There is also a growing body of work about children, inspired by the artist's niece. "Scherzo" (slide #4) portrays the child as an Orpheus figure who enchants the beasts with music. This pastel is painterly as is all of the artist's work, whether in oils, watercolor, charcoal, or pastel. Zwerling does commissions of young children, cats, dogs, and other family friends from photographs which she usually takes herself.

To see more images go to
www.lisazwerling.com
www.artincontext.org.