LISA KOTOULAS

Touch Don't Touch

This body of work examines concepts surrounding polarities. The real and imagined, the past and present, the absurd and significant are combined on canvas to create a push-pull. The work playfully highlights these moments by applying monumental subject matter to concepts less valued. 

 Paired with historically significant frameworks, ideas surrounding childhood nostalgia, pop culture and even the paranormal, create a lightness to an otherwise heavy and contemplative subject matter. Recognisable children’s show characters combine with ancient sculptural elements to form ambiguous yet familiar objects. Faux furs and tangible materials become part of the art where an urge to touch in an otherwise unauthorised environment creates ambiguity in this very action. 

This new configuration showcases a reconsidered platform of the past. Jim Henson’s Sesame Street characters take the same precedence as that of Classical Greek architecture. Personal nostalgia with symbolic historical structures fuse to create a new illusory chronological moment in time. Recognisable objects become distorted as time disappears. 

It is within these exact moments of ceased time the work is galvanised and an opportunity for contemplation is afforded. Moments where the big (and more modest) questions of life are examined and perspective is considered. Admittedly, this is an audacious task of unsurmountable proportions (and probably an impossible one). Nonetheless, an innate impulse for answers continues and the work ensues. 

Lisa Kotoulas, Touch Don’t Touch AIRspace Projects Inc August 2018