Museo de Mujeres

 

The line, an underlying element in Luisa Noriega's work since her early illustration work, emerges boldly in this exhibition, “Preserving Time”. It takes paths and risks that seem inspired by the classic and enigmatic figure of Penelope, for whom thread was an instrument of subtle power and force, imitated by Western women throughout time and, more recently, by male artists. Here, the line suddenly breaks the surface and wanders through a three-dimensional space, weaves around itself and us, before dissolving into matter, paint and brushstrokes that merge with the cloth, suggesting spaces of different depths and moods, through a subtle dialogue of color and shape.

 

This series shows a fondness for silkscreen printing, experimenting and playing with the possibilities of meaning, as an inscription but also a montage and collection of subjectivities. Time and space take center stage in Luisa de Noriega’s work.

 

Various dimensions of self-expression are explored, pushing back the limits of abstract painting, to study its similarities with sculpture and installation, evoking personal experience between the landscape, places and everyday objects and emotions.

 

 

by Luisa de Noriega

 

This exhibition, like many others, stems from the same concern, time, an incomprehensible enigma for us. It passes unseen throughout our existence, but we notice its progression like a memory displaying its absence. We can project time towards the future only as a thought, a reality that has not yet taken form. As it subtly runs by it leaves traces everywhere, and only humans can express awareness of its passing. Time is a word, present in life. How can it be contained? How can its trace be caught? This is what I have sought to do in recent years, and today I can share the result of these questions. I do not claim to provide answers to these enigmas, as there are none, but I can present my experience within a time frame.

 

We often say that time flies, runs away… For me, painting, drawing and embroidering are ways of catching, “preserving” between lines, strokes or stitches, the emotions that emerge when creating, to leave a trace, a record of my existence.

 

This is the ultimate intention of my work, and I use thread, acrylic, automobile lacquer and oil on canvas, different techniques within a common goal of producing a series de works that account for the passage of time.

 

There are similarities between these two forms of expression, both in the formal elements that I use to paint or embroider - rhythm, repetition, tension and contrast -, and in the application of the material, whether paint of thread. Both create mechanical rhythms and different plans on an imaginary screen. Each piece has surfaces superposed on one another, creating ambiguous plans that blend together like time. In this way, the canvas becomes the sphere in which life is born, and time becomes the material giving form to this environment. It is a significant opportunity for me to exhibit my work at the Galería de la Torre del Reloj, a symbol of time, which is very present in my work.