Interdisciplinary artist, Michelle Lisa Herman maintains two artistic practices. In her upcoming Hillyer exhibition “I Just Want to Know You’re There,” Michelle will be showing these two bodies of work side-by-side.
In one practice, she paints using a pressing technique that allows her to achieve an element of chance and to remove the artist’s hand from a material that compels it. Using the technique of “decalcomania”(as coined by Max Ernst), Michelle manipulates sumi ink between multiple layers of Mylar to reveal abstract “fractal” patterns. The effect: faces, or “Masks” that seem to emerge from the ink itself while providing room for the viewer to make associative connections.
The second practice—new media installations—she explores the ideas of communication and the desire for connection in the digital age. Michelle will be showing three of these works: a mixed-media installation called “Invisibility;” an interactive video installation that utilizes facial recognition “Mirror Mirror;” and her newest work, an interactive sculpture “Sad Bear.”
The exhibition is on view from January 8–30, 2016 at the Hillyer Art Space.