Between Lights and Shadows:  The Sculptures of Lynn Kislak

Lynn Kislak's work relies primarily on the interplay of light and shadow, and while the subject matter may be pure abstract form, the result is dramatic, with the precision of a sculpture's silhouette of movement.

Kislak's works imply the transformation of a two-dimensional shape into a tri-dimensional form. Beyond that they become intuitive forms, fanciful blends of the organic and the geometric that play with the grid, forcing it to the limits of a quasi-evanescent state.  Fascinated with the intricacies of three-dimentional chiaroscuro, her hollow sculptures, mathematical yet organic, raise questions about contemporary art-making, tackling head on the problem of re-purposing, coupled with concerns about volume and hollowness, luminoscity and movement. In this sense, Kislak's strategy aligns with many Minimalist precepts regarding the creation of organic volumes made of industrial materials that speak of movement, transparency, dominance, and the nature of materials, working with classic ideas of equilibrium, balance, and asymmetry, in which existing forms are transformed and forced into new shapes.

The very nature of the materials she incorporates into her work determines their innate translucency, creating a volume in space that allows the viewer to gaze through and explore the game of light and shadow being played out by the piece, through myriad grid-patterned incisions intrinsic to the aluminum sheets.  As the viewer moves around the piece, it visually morphs into a different contour, while at the same time exposing different aspects of the sculpture through the cutouts.  The hollow flesh gives way to the skeleton, akin to encountering a complete body, but one where all its composite, subcutaneous layers are simultaneously exposed.  This dynamism is crucial to the meaning of these works, and the interplay resulting from the solid and void volumes and their encircling emptiness is rhythmic and graceful.  

Kislak's agenda is strongly imbued in concepts of economy of media.  As a result, the execution of her artwork is inexorably tied to each piece's meaning through a process that focuses simultaneously on the event as well as the action, rendering the metal work available for handling and manipulation.  This gesture, reminiscent of the perennial theme of human dominance of nature, forces a traditional industrial material to be transmuted into something else entirely through the sheer force of her hands and the minimal use of tools.

Through the use of paint, the separate parts seem to come together seamlessly, adding a novel layer of content to each sculpture.  A new game of color and shade appears, thereby enhancing a forceful geometric abstract shape of minimalist synthesis and a basic structure that sometimes ends in sharp, aggressive edges.

Lynn Kislak's sculptures strike a perfect balance between the gestural and the abstract, bouncing between light and shadows to create a strong visual presence that is physical yet ethereal, allowing the spaces surrounding the pieces to be just as full of meaning as the sculptures themselves. 

Amalia Caputo