Lindsay Hall
Luscious and Pluscious
February 1 – February 24, 2019
“Luscious and Pluscious” addresses pleasure, desire and intimacy in relation to fantasy playscapes of the body and beyond. The body is the vehicle for all human experience and sensory engagement and so it becomes an origin of inspiration for shapes, textures and interactions of forms in this indulgent wonderland. Beautiful, strange and sensuous bodily imagery are oversimplified as abstract forms; a shoulder or a penis becomes a wonky noodle, while a vagina or a mouth becomes an asymmetrical donut. Sexually ambiguous body parts constructed of dyed polyester, elastic mesh, shiny polyurethane and paint become representative of a universal body. Stuffed and stretched pieces and parts act as a framework for individual experience, inviting opportunities for recollection of simultaneously salacious moments and awkward discoveries. Fragments of sweet, supple flesh hang in animated suspension and sit in lavish arrangements, provocatively posturing and begging for interaction. Bumping and hugging, slumped and slouched and snuggled, bulging and swelling and gently cupping edges, causing curves to flirt with crevices as shapes slip and slide in, through, around and over one another. Bodily pleasures such as food are simultaneously and overtly inserted into the work as another source of inspiration, layering spongy flesh with gooey, sticky-sweet intimations. Sugar crystals cling to the memory membrane as suggestions of doughy flesh and fluffy confections stuffed into fiber casings and depicted in glitter-crusted paintings saturate the visual field. A tingling sensation is brought on by remembrances sugarcoated with the curiosity of childhood. Moments of candy collecting, marshmallow hoarding and gummy sucking leave a tacky smack of sweater teeth and precious residue on an overly stimulated brain. Squishy toys inspire shapes, textures and colors as youthful amusements play back in fluid rotations, evoking candy shops and toy stores overflowing with piles of goodies, generous puddles of neon slime, the gyration of pearlescent water wigglies and Saturday mornings filled with Candy Land, My Little Pony and Popples. Plush forms bounce and collide in an invisible yet seemingly viscous fluid backlit with glowing gradations surrounded by a never-ending white field. Joyous and overwhelmed, clinging to plastic food and soft playthings, childish fancies mingle with carnal cravings.
Palpable memories of things innocent and erotic, tasty and visceral, are regurgitated and playfully reinterpreted through an intuitive process that results in each candy colored morsel. Glittery glue and Crayola paints combine with the smell of vinyl pool toys and translucent inflatable furniture, conjuring earlier days punctuated by the thrill of crafting followed by pool parties with cupcakes and ice cream. Rainbow colored tulle packed with iridescent cellophane mimic icing and gelatinous jigglies as after-school dance recitals resurface in dizzying proportions. Deliciously digestible sensuality and shameless humor are blended, whipped and drizzled over each juicy delicacy. Similar to the individual experience, each piece can be considered unique yet part of the collective whole, coalescing in this decadent fantasyscape brimming with delectable offerings. The alluring components and scenes are amalgamations of both the foreign and the familiar and can be interpreted as both micro and macro, internal and external, corporeal and temporary, tugging at the seams of dream like realities with spectacular immediacy.
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A West Coast native, Lindsay Hall is an interdisciplinary artist currently based in Las Vegas, Nevada. She received an MFA in Painting from Indiana University in 2016, as well as a BA in Painting and Drawing (2012) and a BA in Journalism and Media Studies (2010) from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her work has been exhibited nationally at venues such as the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Janet Kurnatowski Gallery (New York), the New Hampshire Institute of Arts, Kent State University (Ohio), Indiana University, the Target Gallery (Virginia), Fort Works Art (Texas) and Ventolin Art Space (Australia), and is featured in Volume 38 of Studio Visit magazine and Issue 2 of Hiss Mag. She has co-curated group exhibitions in Indiana and New York. Lindsay received the Ilknur P. Ralston Memorial Award in Visual Arts in 2016. She was awarded the Post-Graduate Residency Program at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia in 2017. Lindsay is currently preparing for a solo exhibition in Florence, Italy as a selected artist for the XII Florence Biennale in 2019.
