Forever
Exhibition by Lisa Ostapinski
Opening Reception: Friday, September 6th, 6-10pm
Artist Discussion lead by Svea Vikander: Friday, September 6th, @ 6pm
Exhibition: September 6th–October 26th, 2019
Local Language: 477 25th Street, Oakland CA 94612
Please join us Friday, September 6th at 6PM for an artist discussion lead by Svea Vikander. Vikander is an arts reporter and the co-host of KALX Berkeley radio show ART CRUSH, in which she and Jozefien Buydens fall in love with Bay Area artists. Svea is also a visual media and social practice artist, and her work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Toronto Star, and The New York Times.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
Lisa Ostapinski’s work is an exploration of the spiritual realm through abstract form and luminous materials. Her imagery pulls from a diverse array of sources, including textile design, architecture, modern painting, the natural world, scientific illustration, religious painting and occult symbolism. Her work juxtaposes archaic media with modern forms, producing a contemporary take on historical art techniques. She chooses lustrous, visually rich materials such as gold leaf and beeswax and traditional processes such as encaustic painting, sgraffito, and oil paint marbling. The natural beauty of these materials and the historical use of these techniques in European religious painting evokes the divine in Ostapinski’s contemporary work.
RESIDENCY WORK ON EXHIBIT
Forever is an expression of the beauty of the natural world through photography, encaustic painting and mixed media artwork depicting bodies of water. It is a meditation on impermanence, the human relationship to nature, the passing of time, and the fragility of water systems.
Lisa Ostapinski chose lustrous, visually rich materials such as gold metal leaf and beeswax and traditional processes such as encaustic painting, sgraffito, and oil paint marbling. Local Language’s technology allowed Ostapinski to introduce a previously unexplored visual medium to her work: photography. Incorporating digital prints of her nature photography with varying layers of handwork—including encaustic, gold leaf, gesso, and etching—allowed her to explore new visual ideas and pushed her to deepen her practice.
ARTIST’S BIO
Lisa Ostapinski is a painter and art educator based in Oakland, CA. Ostapinski holds a BA in art from Mills College, Oakland, and an MA in art education from the Teachers College, New York. She is an art educator to both children and adults and exhibits her work nationally.
Local Language is an Art, Design, and Fabrication studio providing curated art collections for commercial properties across the globe. The Artist in Residence program offers space, time, and facilities for artists in a multitude of disciplines to explore creative pursuits and utilize technology to further their own art practice. We are a working art manufacturer. Made in the Garage District, Oakland California.
Open to the public Thursday and Friday 5-9pm, Saturday 2-5pm and by appointment.