Liz Koerner

Liz Koerner

Liz Koerner Headshot

BIOGRAPHY


Liz grew up in Iowa and earned a BFA from California College of the Arts in 2009. In 2014 she completed a two-year Core Fellowship at Penland School of Crafts and in 2019 she earned an MFA from San Diego State University. Liz has been the recipient of many awards and residencies. In Spring 2020 she was an Artist-in-Residence at the Wood Center at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She has exhibited her sculptures throughout the United States.

Permeable, Douglas fir, muslin, vintage wallpaper, MDF, colored gel, glass, vinyl, dirt, hardware, 67 x 51 x 9 inches, 2019, NFS

ARTIST STATEMENT


My recent works are based on the premise that the home is an extension of the body, and that we have subconscious physical and psychological connections to our built environment. Fixtures like bathtubs and showers reference the body explicitly because they serve basic biological needs. They are often overlooked. It is this invisibility combined with their familiarity and intimate nature that gives them power. I abstract built-in fixtures to explore themes of time, memory, emotion, and entropy.


In addition to built-in fixtures I am drawn to the unseen spaces of the home. Concealed subspaces under floors and inside walls are time capsules. Their exposure suggests bringing what is hidden or forgotten to light. We have a visceral understanding of these spaces as mysterious and filled with the unknown. I evoke them by stripping down architectural elements to skeletal wood frames.


Materiality is an important component of my work. Douglas fir is used in the frames to reference its actual use in the building trade. Objects that are typically made from metal, such as the bath faucet, are carved from basswood to convey warmth. Handmade textiles represent time and labor condensed into fragile renderings of things usually durable, such as ceramic tiles. Textiles serve as a link between the body and architecture. As our most primitive bodily protection, we have an instinctual understanding of them as comforting. The softness of cloth echoes the fragility of our own bodies.


I intend for these works to trigger emotional responses and to elicit a sense of quietness and uncanniness that is understood through the body. I use material shifts and alterations of space and color to arouse feelings of disorientation, possibility, and openness. I seek to create moments when vulnerability feels simultaneously unsettling and peaceful.

Recurrent, Douglas fir, basswood, ash, vinyl, water, graphite, liming wax, 59 x 31 x 21 inches, 2017, NFS

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