Over time, I have come to realize something seemingly quite simple: that my work reflects me. People have often described me as a Renaissance woman, referring to my wide range of interests, especially in the arts and sciences. Committed to lifelong learning, I first and foremost am an artist, but I also became a mother, a competition aerobatic pilot, an EMT, and a registered nurse. Eventually, I always integrate each new interest into my body of the work, and this sometimes takes the form of stylistic shifts, or new imagery, or multiple series.
Much of my work reflects a personal translation of the physiological experience of aerobatic flying. As an artist, what draws me to aerobatics is the hyper-stimulation of both the visual and somatic senses. This extreme type of flying requires intense focus and sensatory interpretation: it’s a combination of relying on the visual inputs, like the location of the airplane in reference to the horizon; and body inputs, like G-forces and the often-confusing messages the vestibular system (the inner ear) sends to the brain. The forces of gravity (G-forces) are thrilling, but gravity-induced sensations such as seeing stars and graying/blacking out during flight are not uncommon and can be dangerous. Visually, aerobatics provides stunning new perspectives, and my goal for this body of work is to communicate this multi-sensory, multi-dimensional experience. These works are comprised of oil paintings, prints, and works on paper.
My longstanding fascination with pattern and the decorative arts from other cultures has been at the core of my work for many years, long before flying. Ornament appeals to me, both as form and as subject. Pattern is beautiful, decadent, and visually complex, and yet despite the visual activity, it inspires a meditative state. Pattern in paintings generally negates space, sacrificing depth for repetition, and simplicity for ornament. My works on paper emphasize beauty and this ornamental flat space: they suggest intimacy and invite close inspection. The idea of bringing space into a pattern painting has also become one of the visual puzzles I am interested in solving, as well as capturing the vastness of the sky, and using scale shifts to signal the infinite. The abundance of beauty in flowers and nature are at the heart of many of my works on paper.
In the past years, I have focused mainly on commissions for clients. Many clients are aviators, and all are passionate people who lead interesting lives by definition, because each person is so unique. These paintings allow me to develop a rapport with the client: I aim to understand the things they value, and then translate those values into a visual painting. These have been both challenging and incredibly rewarding experiences, because I become the envisioner of their story, and this is an honor for me. These commissions are truly an artistic collaboration, reminiscent of a time in history when commissions were the highest form of art.
Lise Lemeland, 2024
