lisa rundstrom
Posted on 15. Dec, 2010 by Carrie in muse
words > MATTHEW CLAGG
Creating environments that seduce and elude Lisa Rundstrom seeks to question the nature of reality and our understanding of it. Her materials range from plastic structures, bags of water, and paint to light and video; each used to explore the intersection of the individual and collective consciousness. In the same way that the most diverse parts of life are connected, her installations create connections between organic alien forms and recognizable everyday materials. Building on an exploration of the complex interactions in life she attempts to both visualize and analyze the creation and development processes of relationships and realities. In her light box series using everyday objects she creates fields of color or surprising displays. Using simple backlit wooden and plastic boxes that hold colored popsicles she creates abstract paintings that demand questions about the identity and history of the popsicles; as well as the relationship between the art, the artist, the gallery that displays these objects, and the viewer experiencing it. It expands beyond beauty or clever comment into a series of ideas that stay with the audience long after the experience.
Recently, with performance art, Rundstrom has begun to expand her exploration by acting out parts of life within actual social context. In ‘BoiL’ a video of boiling water is blown up onto a huge screen and overlaid with audio fragments of Rundstrom and her late husband’s voice that create a dialog addressing the complexities, layers, and hardships of life. Rundstrom’s process is fluid between mediums. She connects many kinds of art making with the varied connections in life. ”As diverse as some of the works are visually, the exploration, approach and repetitive nature to my production of anything is so similar that they seem very much the same to me. I relate this to how all parts of my life are connected; such as the way my education, self-awareness, teaching, parenting and mentoring have also now become part of my understanding of my work.” For Rundstrom, life is built on layers and grows rampantly. Using her own life and her perception of the world she approaches the creative process openly allowing her work to shift and transform, much like life around us, in the end creating work that is open to as many interpretations as it asks questions. Her work is not lost in complexities or pigeonholes, it is broad, explorative, organic and adventurous.
