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Lot Essay
'I realized I was redeeming objects with my material. There was the process of applying beads with tweezers, a very careful and attentive act-and then over time, the transformation; a kind of hallucinogenic quality, like the object was 'saved' or spirit-filled' (L. Lou, quoted in L. Weschler, 'A Conversation with Liza Lou and Lawrence Weschler', E. Heartney, Liza Lou, New York 2011, p. 98).
Bejewelled in scarlet quartz crystal beads, Liza Lou has rendered The Worshipper (2004), in stunning optical opulence. Two figures sit facing each other in the lotus position, their mirrored physical forms captured in the moment of transformation by fire. As the flames lick at the figures and rise upward, the viewer is left uncertain as to whether he is looking at a human or a god. The Worshipper fuses the religious rites of the artist's own experience growing up as a born-again Christian with her turn to Buddhist meditation as an alternative spiritual practice. Following Lou's intense performance piece 'Born Again' where she recounts her life-story, the artist returned to the brilliant colour of her Kitchen installation but abandoned the suggestion of American plenitude and opulence. The artist instead explored a critical aspect of her personality, that of her Christian heritage and the ways in which the body could act as a gateway to spiritual transformation. This investigation culminated with The Worshipper conceived for her solo exhibition The Damned at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris.
Indeed Lou has not depicted here the Christian fire of sin and damnation but the regenerative fire of enlightenment, the radiance of inner form revealed. Through her work, Lou seeks to communicate the importance of the body as a means of reaching spiritual transcendence. Fire is a fundamental element and symbol of regeneration and illumination. In The Worshipper it has taken on the curvilinear and repetitive patterns of the artist's brilliant signature beads, and in so doing, becomes divine. Speaking of transcendence in her practice, Lou said, 'later, as an artist, I realized I was redeeming objects with my material. There was the process of applying beads with tweezers, a very careful and attentive act-and then over time, the transformation; a kind of hallucinogenic quality, like the object was 'saved' or spirit-filled' (L. Lou, quoted in L. Weschler, 'A Conversation with Liza Lou and Lawrence Weschler', E. Heartney, Liza Lou, New York 2011, p. 98).
An apotheosis of her reconciliation between her Christian upbringing and her affinity with the principles of Buddhism, The Worshipper elegantly illustrates the notions of spirituality, time, and transcendentalism in Lou's work. Finding a spiritual affinity with the tenets of Buddhism Lou also found that her larger oeuvre had an innate connection to the religion in its quest for a Zen-like mastery of the body and mind. Of her practice Lou has noted, 'there's something very Buddhist about beadwork: the burning tip of the moment, being in the present, paying attention to the smallest thing. That was my bead epiphany' (L. Lou, quoted in A. Lubow, 'Liza Lou', E. Heartney, Liza Lou, New York 2011, p. 148).
Bejewelled in scarlet quartz crystal beads, Liza Lou has rendered The Worshipper (2004), in stunning optical opulence. Two figures sit facing each other in the lotus position, their mirrored physical forms captured in the moment of transformation by fire. As the flames lick at the figures and rise upward, the viewer is left uncertain as to whether he is looking at a human or a god. The Worshipper fuses the religious rites of the artist's own experience growing up as a born-again Christian with her turn to Buddhist meditation as an alternative spiritual practice. Following Lou's intense performance piece 'Born Again' where she recounts her life-story, the artist returned to the brilliant colour of her Kitchen installation but abandoned the suggestion of American plenitude and opulence. The artist instead explored a critical aspect of her personality, that of her Christian heritage and the ways in which the body could act as a gateway to spiritual transformation. This investigation culminated with The Worshipper conceived for her solo exhibition The Damned at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris.
Indeed Lou has not depicted here the Christian fire of sin and damnation but the regenerative fire of enlightenment, the radiance of inner form revealed. Through her work, Lou seeks to communicate the importance of the body as a means of reaching spiritual transcendence. Fire is a fundamental element and symbol of regeneration and illumination. In The Worshipper it has taken on the curvilinear and repetitive patterns of the artist's brilliant signature beads, and in so doing, becomes divine. Speaking of transcendence in her practice, Lou said, 'later, as an artist, I realized I was redeeming objects with my material. There was the process of applying beads with tweezers, a very careful and attentive act-and then over time, the transformation; a kind of hallucinogenic quality, like the object was 'saved' or spirit-filled' (L. Lou, quoted in L. Weschler, 'A Conversation with Liza Lou and Lawrence Weschler', E. Heartney, Liza Lou, New York 2011, p. 98).
An apotheosis of her reconciliation between her Christian upbringing and her affinity with the principles of Buddhism, The Worshipper elegantly illustrates the notions of spirituality, time, and transcendentalism in Lou's work. Finding a spiritual affinity with the tenets of Buddhism Lou also found that her larger oeuvre had an innate connection to the religion in its quest for a Zen-like mastery of the body and mind. Of her practice Lou has noted, 'there's something very Buddhist about beadwork: the burning tip of the moment, being in the present, paying attention to the smallest thing. That was my bead epiphany' (L. Lou, quoted in A. Lubow, 'Liza Lou', E. Heartney, Liza Lou, New York 2011, p. 148).