Lisa Urban

The story of "Illumin-knits" is an interesting one that starts with my glowing tide pool paintings and paper mache projects with my students.  I've always been interested in surrealism and the worlds I can create, but being able to take the physical knitted form and fill it with glowing light adds a new dimension to my work.

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Meant to replicate the dreams and fantasies I so often reference, these sculptures utilize light to create a more tangible representation of these feelings. These airy, open forms lend themselves to reminding viewers of clouds and molecular structures - both of which can also represent dreams and feelings.  The light inside is seen as a way to create prominence within certain areas of the sculpture, particularly the largest (base) form.   The attached, smaller forms do not catch as much light, and as such represent the less important, sometimes forgotten parts of our subconscious. 

 

Playing with it even further, in some cases I choose to present them with mirrors behind and below, using reflection to act as a way to show the untouchable parts of our dreams and how they eventually fade and disappear.