02/01/20

AMES, Iowa — “Lucid,” a solo exhibition by Iowa-based interdisciplinary artist Louise Fisher, will be on display from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, Feb. 3–5, at the Iowa State University College of Design. Fisher will also visit classes, provide public demonstrations and present a talk about her work.

Fisher works in the expanded field of print, using methods of layering, impressing and repetition for their literal and visual enactment of time and the body. By integrating constructed and celestial time, geometric and organic forms, digital and hand-drawn printmaking processes, she explores ideas of ephemerality, energetic transformation and life cycles and points to the complexities of our current experience with nature. Through an investigative visual language, she aims to rekindle an appreciation for natural light and ask viewers to consider how their rhythms are impacted by this new incessantly LED-lit world.

“While day allows for productivity, night affords us contemplation, privacy, silence, intimacy, and most importantly — rest. There I find refuge in the infinite feeling of space and humility in the face of the stars,” Fisher says in her artist statement.

“In post-industrial society, darkness is becoming a rare phenomenon as humans continue to extend their security and productivity through artificial lighting. Commonly overlooked, light pollution has drastically altered ecosystems, our biological rhythms and a collective sense of wonder. Through my work, I investigate how light affects sleep cycles and our experience of time, creating atmospheric landscapes that are as dreamlike as they are familiar.”

Demonstrations and artist’s talk

Fisher will demonstrate her work and pull prints with students Wednesday, Feb. 5, in the printmaking studio, room 0011 College of Design. The public is invited to join them from 9–11 a.m. (intaglio/monotype class) and 1:30–2:30 p.m. (printmaking fundamentals class). Both courses are taught by Raluca Iancu, assistant professor of art and visual culture.

Fisher will give a public talk about her work at 3 p.m. in the college’s Gallery 181.

About the artist

Fisher grew up on a farm in Iowa. She holds a bachelor of fine arts with honors from the University of Northern Iowa and a master of fine arts in printmaking from Arizona State University. She has shown her work nationally and internationally, and her work is included in private and public collections, including the Mid-America Print Council, the Zuckerman Museum of Art and the University of North Florida. Her most recent accomplishments include an international residency with the Picker’s Hut in Tasmania and the 2018 SGC International Graduate Fellowship Award.

Contacts

Raluca Iancu, Art and Visual Culture, (515) 294-3363, riancu@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Design Communications, (515) 294-9289, hsauer@iastate.edu

-30-