Drawing inspiration from raw, desolate industrial aspects of big cities, artist Liz Brizzi is one of the featured artists this June’s upcoming LAX / DTW group exhibition curated by Thinkspace right here in Detroit at our own Inner State gallery. We welcome Brizzi for her debut print release LA River Blues. For the upcoming group exhibition Brizzi visited our Detroit studios and went on a massive photo scavenger hunt for creative photos and she was not disappointed. Read on to see process photos of Brizz’s hand-embellishments and to join the LAX/DTW preview email [email protected] to join the advanced collector’s preview before the show opens this June!
1xRun: Tell us a little bit about this piece. Was this piece part of a recent theme, series or show that you had?
Liz Brizzi: I created this piece for a solo show at Thinkspace Gallery in LA, back in March 2014. It’s one of my favorite pieces from the show. With this piece, I started playing with geometric elements for the first time. It got a lot of really good feedback and I personally love how it makes my imagery more graphic. Since this piece, I’ve been doing more of this. And though I’m still experimenting with the idea, it has definitely become a staple element of my most recent work.
1xRun: Tell us a bit about your process…
Liz Brizzi: I work with a variety of media. It all starts with my own photography. I then take elements from various landscapes I photograph, and recreate an imaginary landscape by cutting them out and rearranging them with photoshop. I then print and cut the design by hand. Next, I paint a background on a wood panel with acrylic. I then apply the cut outs to the painting, and the final step is to paint over the whole thing with diluted washes of color to harmonize the image and blur the lines between photography, collage, and paint.
As far as how I get the idea… I just sit down and look at my collection of pictures, then start playing with imagery that I think looks good together. It’s like a puzzle…I cut out shapes, put them together, move them around, delete, repeat, cut, paste, move…until I like what I see.
Brizzi joined us at the 1xRUN / Inner State gallery artist residency loft taking a trip around Detroit in preparation for the DTW / LAX show taking photos throughout the city. Be sure to sign up for the collector preview to get a first look at these new works from artist Liz Brizzi and the rest of the massive lineup curated by the fine folks over at Thinkspace!
1xRun: Where else can people find you?
Liz Brizzi: Website – Twitter @lizbrizzi – Instagram @lizbrizzi
-1xRUN