Blind Courage and Panic Fears

Additional Information

Lisa Murray, The Grooming of Imperfections (detail) 2001, Plasticine, MDF, Lexan

This exhibition presents the recent work of Calgary-based Lisa Murray. Her inter-disciplinary work features compelling images reminiscent of children's illustrations, toy-like objects and somewhat-scientific diagrams. These artworks are familiar in form, yet are at times disturbing or unusually humourous in their content. The forms suggest pedagogical forms of visual information. They allude to ways that knowledge is communicated and shared, and suggest broader concerns and meanings that can be read about how information is created, visualized and exchanged. These prints, sculptures and drawings are charmingly pleasurable, amusing, and yet somewhat deceptive in their overt simplicity and clarity. The diverse yet connected works refer to perceptual processes, medical history and philosophy. In The Grooming of Imperfections, Murray meticulously sculpts plasticine into flawless abstract objects. The technical difficulty, and obsessive attention required to achieve these smooth surfaces from a material that is inherently pliable and fragile, conjures ideas of vulnerability, intimacy, and desire. Her series Flash Cards juxtapose images with labels. Beyond their obvious emulation of educational cards, they speak of methods of classification, science and mapping. Lisa Murray received her MFA from the University of Alberta. She is currently an instructor at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary.