Liz Gardner
A Gallery Feature
Artist Statement
Def. 1: artifact; an object produced or shaped by human craft, especially a tool, weapon, or ornament of archaeological or historical interest.
By definition, artifacts reflect the presence of human beings. These objects have a life cycle that can be compared to that of humans. Although they eventually decay and erode, they may hold the keys to crucial information about ancient life. As an artist, I feel compelled to hold onto artifacts such as found materials, to create a new history and future for them in my work.
Def. 2: artifact; an inaccurate observation, effect, or result, especially one resulting from the technology used in scientific investigation or from experimental error.
My work reflects the idea of chance and spontaneity that occurs in the world around us and in one’s daily life. I believe that the world is full of inconsistencies and human error that I cannot ignore in my artwork. Accidental outcomes found in art can be very interesting and thought-provoking. By working through a process and allowing chance to take its course, the artist can contemplate ideas that would not be otherwise explored.
People mold, shape, and assign flexible meaning to art objects and other artifacts. When observing an artifact, questions arise such as, “Where did this come from?”, “Who produced it?”, and “Was it altered or destroyed?” etc. Existing artifacts that I see in the world around me continually inspire me. As I construct and assemble my work using found objects, a new configuration allows for reinterpretation as “new artifacts” are created.
Artist Biography
Liz Gardner's living space has been taken over by giant popples. A colorful ensemble of the muppet-esque creatures crowd her Kansas City apartment, and the mixed-media artist has even taken to signing off her phone messages as "Liz Popple."
If popples pervade Liz's life, it is hardly an accident. The custom-made creatures—ranging from a pod-shaped infant to a round, furry figure the size of a small parade float—are the artist's variation on the children's toys from the 1980s and a manifestation of the personal mythology she has built around them. Since she received her first popple at the age of 5, Liz has designed popples that correspond to specific stages in her life. A popple representing grade school is inlaid with one of her early writing assignments and a screen-printed pattern of children holding hands, while a middle school popple's arms are folded self-consciously across its chest. A high school popple, decorated with a bra and jewelry, suggests a budding femininity, and a college-era popple boasts a colorful hodgepodge of textiles, language, maps, and images from science books.
The popples reflect the artist's advances in craftsmanship as well as age. The most recent creation, constructed by sewing eight different panels of fabric together to form a giant white ball with a Snoopy-shaped head and a blue felt lining, appears minimalist compared to her earlier creations, but is actually more sophisticated in design. "It's me now," Liz says of her newest creation. "I'm learning you don't have to be as busy with imagery and color. Before it was more happy accidents, but now it's more planned."
Like much of her artwork, Liz's popple project deals with comfort issues, self-exploration, and the aging process. "I like that there's an inside and an outside level to them," she says. "You're able to see the isolation of the self as well as the environment it's shaped by."
A 2003 exhibit of Liz’s work, "Tweaking the Right Brain," also drew on biographical elements. The show grew from a fascination with the brain she developed as a child after doctors ran tests to make sure she was free of brain disorders. The artwork—an example of which includes a drawing of a diver poised to dive into a swirling sea of thread pasted on a painted canvas—examines the relationships between chaos and logic and the way the two manage to adhere to one another and balance each other out.
The material Liz uses in her art often serves as its own muse. A new series of quilt-resembling pieces brings together fabrics, magazine photos, and other materials with colorful, zig-zag stitching. She has also completed collages with sheet music (she is a classically-trained violinist), sculptures using only hair and wire, and designs based on anatomical slides and microchips.
A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, Liz graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Textiles in 2003. In 2002, she was awarded the Doris Fair Carey Scholarship for excellence in textile design. Her work has been featured in solo gallery shows in Lawrence and Kansas City, and has been included in group shows as far away as Florence, Italy, where she studied painting in 2004. Her work has also been commissioned for paintings and used for set design in musical performance.
In 2005, she founded Liz Gardner Designs to market her line of pillows, linens, and custom home furnishings. Though she classifies her designs as either non-functional (artistic) or functional (home decoration), all of her work employs the spontaneity, diverse materials, and fine craftsmanship used to create her fine art. To see examples of her pillows, popples,and other fine art, visit www.lizgardner.com.
“Operation Popple People", an exhibition from June 2006 at the Olive Gallery, contained both her popples and new mixed media works. The multilevel gallery showcased all aspects of Gardner’s work. This was the largest exhibition of her career thus far.
Baby popple with Liz (7"x13") - Hand-dyed velvet, faux fur, thread, and a
zipper, doll eyes
For more information you may contact the artist at www.lizgardner.com or email lizpopple@hotmail.com.
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