The Artist's Statement

One important function of art is to disrupt the commonplace. To dislocate our senses, artwork provokes the viewer to regard everyday objects — whether animate or inanimate — in a new way. My artwork builds on this artistic tradition and has been influenced especially by the works of Duchamp, Magritte, and Man Ray. Other significant functions are to kindle viewers’ humor and stimulate their intelligence as well as to provide them with a rich visual palette and technical dexterity. These functions are both my artistic challenges and goals.

In the Bodyscapes series, I explore three traditional artistic subjects: landscape, still life, and human form and attempt to bring them together. Landscape is represented by the hills and valleys of the striped cloth. While cloth has traditionally been paintings’ background, I bring the cloth to the foreground, wanting viewers to see the human form within the landscape created by the cloth’s drape and fold.

In the Out from Under series, the subject matter is underwear – women’s panties and bras and men’s briefs. I explore these familiar objects beyond their function as undergarments or erotic costume. This artwork invites viewers to see underwear as other possibilities in form, scale, milieu, and intention in order to transcend familiar conceptions.

In the Private Parts series, I explore the penis. It becomes a formal object to depict just as the female body and its parts have been examined by artists throughout art history – typically as objects of study (e.g., O’Keefe) and displays of wealth, power and ownership by male artists, as John Berger has pointed out. This symbolic imbalance motivated me in this exploration of associations of the male sexual organ to women and, less commonplace, to objects.

The Garden series examines flowers, fruits, and vegetables as subjects of paintings and works on paper. Their form and color are my primary interest. I am challenged to represent the natural world by distilling the shapes and hues found there and translating them into artistic images.

I hope you enjoy each of the series and will revisit the site as my new works are added. If you would like to receive notice of upcoming shows of my work, please send your email address to: LesikinArt@aol.com and place the words Mailing List in the subject line.

Sincerely,

Joan Lesikin

About the Artist

Lesikin received art training at three influential art institutions. At Rutgers University (now the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers U), New Brunswick, NJ, Lesikin received an MFA in Studio Art, majoring in Sculpture and doing additional work in Serigraphy and Drawing. At School of Art, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, Lesikin received a BFA in Studio Art, majoring in Painting and training in Printmaking, Design, Drawing, and Illustration. Lesikin also studied at the Art Students League Summer School, Woodstock, NY, focusing on Landscape Painting and Drawing and was a recipient of the Woodstock Artists Association Grant.

EXHIBITS

COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern Art Loan Collection, NY, NY
French & Co. Gallery, NY, NY
Galeria Juana Mordo, Madrid, Spain
Syracuse University Print Collection, Syracuse, NY
Syracuse University Painting Collection, Syracuse, NY
Numerous Private Collections in the United States, Europe and North Africa