liliya lifanova
Photo credit: Maria Cabra
BIOGRAPHY
Liliya Lifanova explores the idea of the fragment as a metaphor for her identity and a symptom of a broader cultural condition through performances enacted, in part, by abstract objects. Her multidisciplinary practice encompasses performance, video, painting, drawing, and sculpture. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL (2010), and is a Fulbright Scholarship recipient (2011-2012). Lifanova has been an artist-in-residence at Gridchinhall Artist Residency, Moscow, Russia (2012), Triangle Arts Association, New York (2013), Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE, Artist's Alliance, New York (both in 2015), and more recently at Illinois State University, Normal, IL (2016), Residency Unlimited, New York (2016), and HB 1st Floor Studio Residency, New York, NY (2017). Recent exhibitions include: Flight Over Wasteland, Knockdown Center, Maspeth, NY; PUSH/STRIKE/RESIST, Equity Gallery, New York, NY; Time + Space (Beginnings), Bemis Center, Omaha, NE; Rumour from Ground Control, Rooster Gallery, New York, NY; Pixel, Elga Wimmer Contemporary, New York, NY; It's a Bored Nation, Kunsthalle Projects, Brooklyn, NY; Anatomy is Destiny, Museum of Contemporary Art, Saint Louis, MO; Artists Choose Artists, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY. Her work is included in the Permanent Collection of the US Embassy, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Art in Embassies, US Department of State, and in several private collections. The artist lives and works in New York.
STATEMENT
My work explores themes of borders and identity anchored by the idea of - The FragmentThe Fragment - is a metaphor for my identity and a symptom of a broader cultural conditionHaving spent my youth in the now-dissolved Soviet Union, I am its fragment, dodging belonging and pursuing a personal vernacularThe Fragment - is evoked by the creation of large-scale installations (refuges) comprised of various objects, sized to my bodyThese 'Refuges' are presented in their passive form and require specially designed performances (rituals) and garb to be activatedWhen activated, The Refuges accentuate the concept of - The Fragment
ROOM 509
Title: “YFG (rolled, yellow, blue on linen, Mv pattern)”, 2020. 18 x 14 inches. Casein and acrylic on linen.
Title: “OF, v2 (rolled, multicolored)”, 2020. 26 x 50 inches. Casein on linen on panel.
Title: “Refuge J”, installation, 2020 .Contents: 2 x Cheval de Frise, 2015; 2 x Untitled (rolled, bundled), 2020; 6 x Folded, stacked (boxed), 2018-present. Overall dimensions: 100 x 100 inches . Linen, acrylic, casein, gouache, sand, ceramic, wood.
Title: “Folded”, stacked, 2018-present. Casein, gouache, acrylic on linen
Title: “WIABH, recto”, 2019 (on armature). 32 x 36.75 x 16 inches. Casein, gouache, latex on linen