Lisa Holden

Lisa Holden, Digital photography, Fine art photography, Photography, Self portrait, Photography women, Portrait photography

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One of the main themes in Lisa Holden’s digital photoworks is identity. Growing up in the North of England as an adopted child, (her birth parents are South African and Austrian) knowing very little about her birth family and roots left her with many unanswered questions. Her explorations of identity began by looking at the face as a mask – as a surface that can be changed and adapted at will. Her interpretations of the self, and identity, as malleable and ever changing, have become anchored in a blend of imagery from classical art, early photography and consumer culture. Combining very different types of imagery, as well as analogue and digital techniques, Holden attempts to unite personal and group history, the body and nature, knowing and unknowing. Her works challenge viewers with a barrage of questions. Is some kind of memory imprinted in our DNA? Are our bodies roadmaps of where we came from and where we are going? And how do we reach that knowledge? Always pushing the boundaries of her imagery, two years ago, Holden turned her attention to landscape as a conscious man-made creation and with that, as an extension of human identity. Taking raw footage of locations where she has lived, or places with which she has some kind of connection, Holden constructs images out of multiple layers building in ambiguity; which in turn creates a space into which the viewer can insert his or herself and his/her own narrative. Holden works with images of the natural world in the same way she approaches the human figure – as an ensemble of attitudes, actions and choices. She attempts to invest the images with a sense of triumph – a reshaping and reclaiming of identity. Holden’s compositions, landscapes both with and without the human figure, also act as psychological spaces, as doorways for reflection. In this sense, they link past and present, hinting at possible futures. Holden’s landscapes are a materialization of the layers of identity, of identity and memory. They are also explorations of how we perceive ourselves, our environment, our connections and disconnections with our inner and outer lives, and with the world around us. Always using technology intuitively and exposing its flaws and limitations, Holden’s final images bear traces of the construction process. A close inspection of the image discloses a surface that is fragmented and torn; layers slot together awkwardly, and digital artefacts fray the edges of the composition. The image-making process is immediate yet painstaking; a great deal of work is discarded as she constantly tries to clarify the composition, with work that has to be meaningful, each successive piece more fluent than the one before. Limited copies of Holden's latest artist book, The Bronze Room, are still available.

events

On show in Oslo, Norway: Ellen-K Fine Art Photography and PUG PUG proudly presents work by 4 amazing contemporary artists at Paleet in Oslo. Adr//Paleet, Karl Johans Gate 37-43 Date// March 15th to March 31 Time//Monday- Friday 10am to 8pm Saturday 10am – 6 pm My work is in the collection of Ploum, Lodder & Princen Advocaten in Rotterdam. A website of their collection has just launched. For a virtual tour of their collection, including my work AMBER, visit: www.kunstbijploumlodderprincen.nl DOCUMENTARY FILM FEATURED IN FILM ABOUT DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 3D: Darkly Digital and Divine. A film by ROBERT ADANTO more details about release date etc will follow

about

Lisa Holden has exhibited at numerous international art fairs including Paris Photo, AIPAD New York, Photo LA, Art Brussels, Art Chicago, FIAC, Art Amsterdam, PAN Amsterdam, Cologne 21, Artissima and Art Miami. Her work is featured in numerous international publications and magazines including EYEMAZING, Focus, World Sculpture News, Camera Work and Fotografi. Lisa Holden is represented in corporate and private collections worldwide, such as ABN AMRO, the Peabody Essex Museum USA, Achmea, Akzo Nobel, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the municipal art collection of Innsbruck, Austria, the Meyer family collection, the Braun family collection, the Lawrence Levy family collection. Selected solo exhibitions include I Won"t Be Your Mirror at Diemar|Noble in London, Elusive Eye at Gas Unie Holland, Erwartung at France Lejeune Fine Art Knokke, Belgium, Running Wild at Olivier Houg Galerie, Lyon, France, UNLEASHED at Ron Mandos Galerie Holland Group exhibitions include Land/City/Real/Imagined at Diemar|Noble (opening August 2011), 7th Lane curated by Ellen-K Syverstad in Oslo Norway, Labyrinth at the Rijksmuseum in Twenthe Holland, Making Love to My Ego, Castlefield Gallery UK, The Book Show at The Nunnery in London / The Wordsworth Trust, curated by Simon Morley, Per Saldo, North Brabant Museum Holland, Two Step at CCNOA, Brussels, curated by Robert Preece Projects. Lisa Holden is supported by the The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture

contact

If you would like to join my mailing list or find out more about my work, you can reach me at info@lisa-holden.com or contact one of my dealers: UNITED KINGDOM Diemar/Noble Photography, London www.diemarnoblephotography.com enquiries@diemarnoble.com USA Contemporary / Vintage Works www.contemporaryworks.net www.vintageworks.net anovak@vintageworks.net NORWAY Ellen-K Syverstad Fine Art Photography, Oslo www.ellen-k.no post@ellen-k.no THE NETHERLANDS Eduard Planting Fine Art Photographs, Amsterdam www.eduardplanting.com info@eduardplanting.com

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Girl with Apples, The Precise Arc, Dark Trees, Golden Tree, Forest, Trees (Study #1), Twilight, Muse (Flora), Lilith, Lamia (The Desert), The Lake (Lilith series), Wild Flowers, Scarlet and Gold (Lilith series), Miami 2008 installation view, Art Chicago installation view, LA installation view, Bathers, The Poets, Rivals, Liebe II (Danae series) 2007, Danae (Veil), Three Sleepers, Sleeping Figures, Siren,