Liz Orton is a visual artist whose practice is broadly concerned with entanglements of land, vision and natural science. She engages widely with archives, both real and imagined, to explore the tensions between personal and systematic forms of knowledge.
Liz Orton's Deltiologies series is truly remarkable. Liz creates handmade topographic collages, as a photographic inquiry into the end of landscape as a stable visual field. These kaleidoscopic works aim to explore landscape art in such a way that is more representative of the nuances of nature. Using straight lines Liz creates spherical images to create a collision of lines and shapes that become smooth and perfectly sculpted. In some ways Liz's inquiry has led her to investigate with various materials, the representation of nature, the environment and the natural world which is a terrific feat.
Liz Orton's work is often done in this way- through inquiry. Her work is therefore deeply philosophical in that it aims to explore questions that may remain unanswerable, but it is the exploration that is important. In her body of work 'Where Is All the Information About Mutation' Liz explores the idea that place might disappear in the gap between subject and medium. The idea that the act of photographing a subject will never reproduce it, but only represent it. Looking at in what ways photography can intentionally manipulate the representation of a subject and recreate its meaning.
Liz's work is therefore almost academic in it's approach, in that she meticulously explores, blending elusive inquiries with structure to create art that is considered, detailed and intricately constructed. Liz currently holds a Fellowship at the University of Arts London, and was recently been awarded a Wellcome Trust Arts Award for a project on social and cultural aspects of medical imaging. This blend of science, academia, art and discovery is so wonderfully pitched. Liz does not want to out smart you, she wants to bring you along in her learning process, trying to understand the world better with each work.
Her photo postcards are absolutely stunning and display Liz's abilities to create beautiful structured forms by merging geometric with spherical shapes. They blend environmental themes with a dedication to discovering new ways of presenting photography.
Liz Orton
Liz Orton
Liz Orton
For the chance to exhibit next to Liz, as well as Martin Parr, Liz Collins and Dougie Wallace, go to http://bit.ly/2r0MUE4.
About the writer
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Rosa Torr has a BA in Politics and Philosophy from University College Dublin, though she herself is from London. Her place of interest is political theory and in particular Gender Studies. Rosa has written for numerous online publications and the University Observer. She is also a theatre maker and is currently co-artistic director of BUMP&GRIND Theatre Company. The show she co-wrote BUMP will be on at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. |