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Phases of Kawagasaga
Watercolor Paintings
By
Selma Lisit
(Selma Lisit Detail)
October 14 to November 10, 2005
At
Renaissance Court
Chicago Cultural Center
(Cultural Center Website)
78 E. Washington Street
Chicago, Illinois 60602
312.744.4550
City of Chicago
Chicago Department On Aging
Joyce Gallagher, Commissioner
Susan Weinrebe
October 14, 2005
Enter a state of tranquil reflection, in which the moods of Lake Kawagasaga in northern Wisconsin are lyrically depicted as the seasons change. Selma Lisit’s one-woman show is an intensive study of a beautiful lake and its shores, intensively observed and lovingly portrayed over the course of many visits.
Decidedly influenced by the brushwork of classical Asian painting, Lisit conveys an aquatic, floating feeling through as many as ten layers of seemingly transparent color, using a predominately cool palette. Often framing watery views of the lake, with foliage that pops into the foreground, this technique puts the observer into the setting of the picture itself. It is also a unique melding of almost photographic technique with her brand of impressionism.
Some views of Kawagasaga are distinctly unmoored from land. Indeed, one can barely separate the demarcation between water and sky. As Lisit sits in a little boat, surrounded by her beloved lake, she, “goes into another world,” according to her husband, Jordan, who accompanies her. This is the meditative process that inspires Lisit’s portrayals of mood made visible.
The sense of calm that pervades many of the lake views is abetted by leaving people out of most of the land and waterscapes. Rarely, a small figure appears at a distance, on a bridge or far from land. Against the natural majesty of the setting in which that tiny dot of humanity walks or fishes, the person is barely noticeable. Thus, Lisit comments on the importance of people relative to her ethereal lake country.
One painting in particular called to me. It was a night scene, painted in dark blues that hinted at watery depths. Lights from the opposite shore glimmered between the trees and reflected across the lake to where the painter stood. As though conjuring up other senses, I imagined a soft summer breeze and the distant sound of music floating upon that breeze, and over the water to me. Such is the reflective power of Ms. Lisit’s work.
Phases of Kawagasaga
Photo courtesy of Selma Lisit
Phases of Kawagasaga
Photo courtesy of Selma Lisit
Phases of Kawagasaga
Photo courtesy of Selma Lisit
Phases of Kawagasaga
Photo courtesy of Selma Lisit
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