Recently I was introduced to the art of Eliza Stamps. Eliza does magnificent drawings and textile art. The textile works are silk thread on cotton, linen, and silk, Many of the textile works take on the linear appearance found in the drawings but some of the newer ones are three dimensional. Eliza is pushing the drawing medium to create abstract works that have a strong conceptual component. As she writes in her mission statement:
“The work is meant to show the inherent sameness of all things, tangible and intangible. on both the macro and micro level. The drawings can be seen as the passage of people through space, the movement of cells through the body, the movement of emotions through the psyche. These patterns, when we break them down to their most basic structure, are often analogous. The work gives the appearance of mechanical production, when in reality it is painstakingly handmade. It is constantly shifting between these two poles. This fluctuation, of the organic versus the constructed, again highlights the idea of the ubiquity of structural similarity…This work is meant to give some order to the often chaotic and enigmatic project of existence.”
Having recently started drawing again, I have great respect for where Eliza has taken the seemingly simple medium. Her works remind me of the conceptual work of my good friend Karen D’Amico. A few years ago Karen built ephemeral three dimensional objects and then photographed them with very inviting results. Karen is aligned with complexity theory and her statement said “identity is a mutable construct, often occupying more than one space simultaneously, residing somewhere in between rather than being absolute.” One of Karen’s London group shows was titled a Fine Line. Eliza’s would fit well in this context.
Eliza’s work, Blighted, also had the feeling of the Russian print makers right after the Revolution who developed abstract industrial themes in linear modes producing some great art. Her work, Conference, captures some of the feeling of networking within a good event. There are many others that cause you to look closely at the complexity within the simplicity. Eliza is currently being exhibited at a number of galleries and museums across the US. For example, two-person exhibition of her work, orderline, can be seen through july 25, Tuesday-Friday 12-7pm at Mehr Gallery, 436 W 18th St (btwn 9th and 10th Aves), NY, NY. I would encourage you to see her works close up and hope to myself.
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