Artist Statement and Biography
I allow my paintings to “happen” like a Freudian slip or a slip of the tongue. In doing this I am able to tap into archetypal imagery, symbols and fragments of the psyche in a backdrop of landscapes that seem remote and out of this world. Here, I playfully master the technique of catching the painting while it isn’t looking.
Within my work there is a romanticisation of the road trip and the freedom which it symbolises. The car is used as a symbol for access to a psychological space which is open to interpretation. A space filled with objects and figures of the exotic, mythical or people doing ordinary things. The landscapes which dominate the paintings extend beyond the idyllic prettiness of the pastoral as they embrace the charm and grit of the real world on the brink of both enlightenment and decay. This psychological space is intermingled with debris which protrudes, floats or falls inside the canvas and baffles the narrative.
When trying to pin-point a specific place the work could be referencing a range of things from American novels, road trip films, Australian, New Zealand landscapes, the Mexican desert to the open roads of Europe and Britain. The landscapes are alive with the possibility of adventure and exploring new territories. Imagery within the work seems to melt into familiar narratives where we are reminded of Alfred Hitchcocks "Psycho", Jack Kerouacs "Lonesome Traveller" or "On the Road" or even David Lynch's "Lost Highway" and J.G. Ballard's "Crash".
Using images found in films or family slides found in car boot sales or scanned slides found while searching the internet I am able to work with amateur photographs or cinematic imagery. Often I find discarded slides with images of holidays or pictures of people standing next to their car or house. I find this imagery interesting to work with as the people are unfamiliar to me but the images arouse a curiosity which I explore in my work.
In a recent press release writer Brooke Fitzsimons observed that "Lisa McKendrick constructs her paintings using images from old slides found in car boot sales, or on Ebay - other peoples’ unfamiliar and discarded photos of the past. Shadows and silhouettes hint at things that were once particular: a motel sign, a country road, a first home, a new car. McKendrick creates an uncomfortable, empty landscape from these different elements - detached from any of the people and associations that gave them meaning in the past. Each painting represents a place that is dreamlike, though uncannily familiar"
Lisa McKendrick is a New Zealand born British artist. She studied painting at Unitec, School of Architecture and Design, Auckland. Her studio is based in London.
Within my work there is a romanticisation of the road trip and the freedom which it symbolises. The car is used as a symbol for access to a psychological space which is open to interpretation. A space filled with objects and figures of the exotic, mythical or people doing ordinary things. The landscapes which dominate the paintings extend beyond the idyllic prettiness of the pastoral as they embrace the charm and grit of the real world on the brink of both enlightenment and decay. This psychological space is intermingled with debris which protrudes, floats or falls inside the canvas and baffles the narrative.
When trying to pin-point a specific place the work could be referencing a range of things from American novels, road trip films, Australian, New Zealand landscapes, the Mexican desert to the open roads of Europe and Britain. The landscapes are alive with the possibility of adventure and exploring new territories. Imagery within the work seems to melt into familiar narratives where we are reminded of Alfred Hitchcocks "Psycho", Jack Kerouacs "Lonesome Traveller" or "On the Road" or even David Lynch's "Lost Highway" and J.G. Ballard's "Crash".
Using images found in films or family slides found in car boot sales or scanned slides found while searching the internet I am able to work with amateur photographs or cinematic imagery. Often I find discarded slides with images of holidays or pictures of people standing next to their car or house. I find this imagery interesting to work with as the people are unfamiliar to me but the images arouse a curiosity which I explore in my work.
In a recent press release writer Brooke Fitzsimons observed that "Lisa McKendrick constructs her paintings using images from old slides found in car boot sales, or on Ebay - other peoples’ unfamiliar and discarded photos of the past. Shadows and silhouettes hint at things that were once particular: a motel sign, a country road, a first home, a new car. McKendrick creates an uncomfortable, empty landscape from these different elements - detached from any of the people and associations that gave them meaning in the past. Each painting represents a place that is dreamlike, though uncannily familiar"
Lisa McKendrick is a New Zealand born British artist. She studied painting at Unitec, School of Architecture and Design, Auckland. Her studio is based in London.
Lisa McKendrick is a New Zealand born British artist.
Exhibitions:
2018
No Format Gallery, London, live performance
Little Van Gogh, Work in Situ - Napp, Cambridge
2017
IKLECTIK, drawing exhibition
Modern Panic, Apiary Studios, Performance
Little Van Gogh, Work in Situ - Carswell Gould, Southampton
2016
Obsolete Desire - Group Show, 11 Market Way
Little Van Gogh, Work in Situ - Pinsent Masons, Birmingham / Interel, London / Meggitt PLC
View of Delft - New Court Gallery, Repton
Studio 1:1, Art Converters/2016
2015
Little Van Gogh, Work in Situ - EY, Canary Wharf
Heads - Group Exhibition, Studio One Gallery
Pancakes and Booze Art Show, Studio Spaces
2014
Hey Days! Bermondsey Project, London
Xylonite Arts, Open, London
Red Xmas, Studio 1:1, London
Art Converters, Studio 1:1, London
2013
Needle's Eye, New Court Gallery, Repton
2012
Day of the Dead, Vyner St, London
Needle's Eye, BayArt, Cardiff
Fowle Hall Features Artist Residency and Exhibition, Paddock Wood
BAT Pack III, Mile End Art Pavilion
Needle's Eye, Transition Gallery
Islington Arts Factory, Fundraising Event, London
Equinox, Transition Gallery, London
2011
In an Age of Aeroplanes, You May Fly, SJQ
Auratica Fantastica, New Zealand
Candy Mountains, Arbeit
Little Benefits, Vyner St, London
Open Open, Swiss Cottage Library, London
The Illusion of Art, Courtyard Theatre, London
2010
Bat Pack I, Mile End Arts Pavilion
P1 Space, Bow Arts Trust Open Studios , London
ICA Nash Room, Going Postal Auction, London
St Mary’s Church, London, Music and art exhibition, London
2009
Accident and Emergence, The Flea Pitt Gallery, London
Bow Arts Trust, P1 Exhibition, London
2008
Fieldwork Artists, Arch 635, The Big Day, London
Cafe Gallery Southwark Park, Annual Exhibition, London
101, Bedroom Conundrum, London
2007
Jerwood Contemporary Painters exhibition 2007
Jerwood Space, 171 Union Street, London
BayArt, Cardiff
The Lowry, Salford Quays
Portman Gallery, Hung Drawn Quasi Stellar Object, group show, London
The Nunnery, Disposable Fetish, group Show, London
Competitions, prizes and awards:
2014 East London Painting Prize, first round
2012 Bay Art Gallery, Arts Council funding, Needles Eye
2007 Jerwood Contemporary Painters, Jerwood Space, London
Residencies and Talks:
2013 Culturanze, Salento, Italy, artist talk and presentation of music videos
2012 Fowle Hall Features Artist Residency and Exhibition, Paddock Wood, UK
2012 Franko B, Salon, Bow Arts Trust, artist talk and presentation
2010 St Anne's Catholic High School for Girls, artist talk and workshop
Performances
2012 Goldsmiths Relay, Performance Group Research Group
2012 Goldsmiths Relay stage, Listen Lisse musical performance with live projection by Constance Whiston
2012 Studio 1:1, Pact, Performance Group Research Group
2011 Servant Jazz Quarters, In an Age of Aeroplanes, You May Fly
Curated exhibitions
2014 Hey Days, Bermondsey Project
2011 Candy Mountains, Arbeit, London
2011 In An Age of Aeroplanes, You May Fly, Servant Jazz Quarters, London
Publications and Interviews:
2012 The Artpoint interview with Phillip F Clarke, New York
2012 Trebuchet Magazine, Transition Gallery's First Thursdays
2007 Jerwood Contempory Painters Catalogue 2007
2007 AN Magazine – Jerwood Painters show
2007 The Times – Jerwood Painters
Collections:
James Wallace Collection (NZ)
Education:
1998 Bachelor of Design – Painting, Unitec, School of Architecture and Design, Auckland, New Zealand
1994 Foundation - Painting, drawing, set design, professional practice, TV and video, School of Architecture and Design, Auckland, New Zealand