Artist Statement, Resume, Reviews

Lissa Bockrath

"Streetscapes"
November 7 - December 20, 2003

The past year has been a year of great change in my life. The arrival of my first child has changed my world. It has altered my logistical routines, my perspective, and heightened my sensitivities. Gone are the days when inspired by an urban landscape, I could pull over on the side of the road, crawl out to the edge of a bridge and capture this image. Much of my life now is centered on the cycles and routines of a 14-month-old baby. One look into his eyes and my life is re-defined and given greater purpose.

Due to the harried nature of daily life, much of my views of our surroundings come from behind the wheel of my car and through my windshield. I am still captivated by the everyday urban landscapes of Cleveland, but this past year my focus has been centered on the streets I travel throughout this city. Within these seemingly ordinary vistas lies a world of color and texture. Through my eyes, across the dashboard, the city races before me and reveals an existence that is both subtle and full of hidden purpose. The rainy and grey summer provided me with the opportunity to see the great range of color within a seemingly ordinary city street. My normal expression of color and light's manifestation on the urban environment, is only heightened by the sensitivity my son has brought to my perspective of life.

As my work has evolved, I have gained a greater desire to explore how a brush stroke reacts on a field of diffused, neutral surfaces. In the past my expression has focused on layers of brushstrokes and aggressive, high-energy paintings. Instead, this current exploration of more subtle expressions, results on a more calm, peaceful, and serene representation of a similar subject matter.

paintings by:
Lissa Bockrath

November 16- December 24, 2001
reception:

Friday, November 16, 6:30-9:30

Bockrath Gallery is pleased to present the much-anticipated fifth annual show of exclusively new works by Cleveland artist Lissa Bockrath. The show
entitled 'Obscured Reality' features images that explore inter-relationships between man, woman and the environment in which we live The exhibition opens Friday, November 16th with a reception from 6:30-9:30pm. The show runs through December 24. All exhibits are free and open to the public.

Despite the success of past works, Bockrath felt the desire to investigate an alternative form of expression. While maintaining the integrity of the
medium she has found most effective, oil on photographs, the subject matter
in her new body of work represents a departure from the landscapes and urban environments previously featured. Instead she has chosen to focus on the human form. This evolution represents a shift of focus from the inanimate
objects of our daily surroundings to the human contact that fills our daily
travels.

Although her previous work is almost devoid of any human figures, the relation of man to his or her environment and surroundings has been a consistent theme due to the subtle human presence insinuated within these visions. Now, however, she has delved into the human form itself in an effort to more deeply investigate the inter-relation between man, woman and the environment in which we live. Life's journey, isolation and loneliness, human interaction and relationships at the casual and complex level - all of these are woven into the fabric of this series of work. Human interaction and its subtle manifestations is explored throughout these works.

Although the forms within these works are faceless and often abstract, the
compassion, confusion, pain, and joy that is inherent in everyday life is
clear and distinct. Through the depiction of human forms in a variety of
passages - on the street, in the park, and on the daily commute among others, she has sought to explore the collective dynamic and shared emotionalunderpinnings that fills the reality of human life. Bockrath states, "It is my intent that the viewer of these pieces will feel a bond, a common sense of identity, with the passing figures that fill the field of these pieces. Some will elicit simple feelings of familiarity while others will stir more
complex reactions that are an inherent part of our struggle to find meaning
and hope in the more mundane daily routine."

Lissa Bockrath graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1995. Since
graduation she has exhibited in galleries throughout the country. Among them include the Olga Dollar Gallery in San Francisco, California, Trias Gallery in Toronto Canada, Peter Bartlow Gallery in Chicago, Illinois, Pentimenti Gallery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Unison Gallery in New Paltz, New York and most recently the Here, Here Gallery and South Wing Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio. Her selected collections in Cleveland include the Ireland Cancer Foundation, The Cleveland Art Association, Anderson Consulting, Seagate Investment, Embassy Sweet Hotel, Magic American Corporation and Metro Space Realty. Throughout the country her works can be seen at Ahold Inc. in Washington DC, Giant in Chantilly, Virginia and Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Fisher Price in Buffalo, New York, Lincoln National Corporation in Fort Wayne, Indiana, among others.

Bockrath has been published in Harpers Magazine, New York, New York 4/00, Cleveland Free Times "Land of the Giants" 12/99, The Plain Dealer "Finding Inspiration in the City's Patchwork Vista's" 12/99, Cleveland Scene "Factory Fresh" 12/99, Cleveland Live 10/97, Northern Ohio Live 7/97 and The Buffalo News 7/97. Her work has also been featured on Fox 8 news as the artist of the week in May 2001 and is scheduled to reappear November 2001.

Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday 11-5pm, Sunday 1-5pm and by appointment.