Lisa Gross
Turmoil, Lisa Gross' most recent installation, offers a contemplative commentary on the vanishing variety of marine life, and the reduction or even complete loss of individual species due to over-fishing and other human abuses. It is a work of harmonious contrasts, of a single mass comprised of scores of individual elements, of aquatic life evoked by botanical forms, of distinct movements within apparent stillness, of outer serenity masking inner chaos.
Of the dozens if palm tree pods (spathes) that animate this kinetic sculpture, no two are identical, for like their marine counterparts, such pods exist in hundreds of genera. Engaged in an enchantingly beautiful, meditative dance, they have found a safe haven in Turmoil's circle of protection. But, Gross challenges us to consider, for how long? How long can they continue to exist, let alone thrive, under such circumstances? Whether this compressed form is self-imposed - the result of an innate instinct to swarm together against impending danger - or has been forced upon them by man's recklessness, the harmonious state of existence it conveys, so pleasing to the eye and soul, is in fact a state of Turmoil.
Surfaces Appearances is a commentary on the pollution of our waters.
2002 Aslaviva Water and the Environment, Israel
Exhibition at the Tel Aviv Opera House. Standard white porcelain toilets were distributed to select artists, who transformed them into visual messages pertaining to Israel's water shortage. My sculpture, entitled "Dinosaur," symbolized the country's antiquated water system – a very real contributor to our water crisis.
Recycled metal and plastic parts compose this school wall assemblage. It reflects the unity of divers people.
Cast bronze pair of birds. The underlying material delicate palm leaves. The natural materials have been given a new life and identity.
four fish made from recycled rusted metal and tin cans.
, Dream Chasers is a monumental frieze of 51 warriors and animals setting out to slay a dragon. The dragon and its pursuers, all of whom were assembled from old and worn found objects, provide a timeless metaphor for such themes as the dream of victory, the conquering of one's fears and the cyclical nature of history
Recycled materials on painted canvas. The food chain. Who is hunting who.
Big Fish. Recycled materials.
Found objects are the basis of my work.
For more than 15 years the basis of my work has been other people’s discards. A quick survey of my studio in Azure, Israel, attests to years of foraging for items waiting to be recycled into works of art: abandoned wooden and wicker furniture parts, rusted metal scraps, smashed tin cans, mangled car parts and shattered glass…these are the “found objects” in whose battered forms, contours and textures I see my future sculptures.
The process of transforming these found objects into something utterly new, infused with life and energy, personality and expression, rhythm and movement is the driving force behind my work: a personal recycling as it were. My deeply-ingrained habit of seeing faces and figures in everything has led to the vast majority of my works being figural. Whether human or animal, the raison d’être for each of my creations is always two-fold: revealing the unrecognized beauty of their recycled surfaces, and encouraging the contemplation of themes of human and environmental significance.
But it is not only in man’s discards that I have found inspiration. Exploring the artistic possibilities of nature’s discards is a new path on which I have recently embarked. Several of my current works are comprised entirely of palm spathes – elegant dried pods that exist in a variety of shapes, sizes and tones. In casting these natural forms in bronze, or suspending them in kinetic installations, I have sought to transform these botanical elements into evocations of aviary and marine life, to highlight the beauty of their unadulterated forms, and to engage them in my on-going effort to confront environmental issues.
Living in a country where water scarcity is a constant concern, it is perhaps of no surprise that the environmental and ecological themes that most frequently inform my works revolve around issues of water. My contribution to “Aslaviva, Water and the Environment” (Tel Aviv Opera House, 2002) challenged viewers to confront Israel’s need to update her antiquated water systems; my monumental floor installation “Surfaces/Appearances” (Ashdod Art Museum/Monart Center, Ashdod, 2009) addressed the pollution of our natural bodies of water; and, most recently, my kinetic sculpture “Turmoil” (Artist’s House, Tel Aviv, 2015), offers a commentary on the vanishing variety of marine life due to over-fishing and other human abuses.