Lisa Sylvester

For several years, my work has focused on the relationship between the physical life of the body and the religious/spiritual realm. My recent work concerns the conflicts that arise between body-driven impulses and the moral/religious constructs that we have in place to measure and judge them. I employ visual symbols to contain a multiplicity of such irreconcilable meanings. Through the painting process, this subject matter surfaces in some paintings and becomes a buried influence in others.

During the last few years, text has become an important element in my work. Although the meanings attached to the words and phrases in a painting are important to the meaning of that painting, the visual impact of the text as an image is of equal consequence. I invent some of the incorporated text, but most often use fragments from sources including the Bible, Antonin Artaud, Octave Mirbeau, and psychiatric case studies.