Artists’ Statement, Liz Morrison & Nick Stull

Humans’ subcutaneous layer keeps us warm and helps us float. Surprisingly, our layer is as thick as aquatic and semi-aquatic animals’. Could our bodies be built for more than dry land? The subjects of these portraits easily and simultaneously venture through sea, jungle, and even swim through outer space. 

A pervasive technique in this collection is a bright underpainting: a neon glow seems to pulse underneath the skin. By formally highlighting the subcutaneum, the artists recall our underlying capacity to thrive in diverse terrains. 

The loose style of these works further conveys the fluid passage of individual between environments. Parts of faces appear “unfinished,” and translucent layering reveals the artists’ process. The effect un-fixes these people in place: they fade/drift between sky, sea, and jungle.

These figures are submerged in deep spaces interrupted by flat surfaces. Deep spaces are depicted pictorially, as the cosmos and the sea, and formally, through atmospheric layering. Similarly, flat planes are illustrated in patterns of foliage and drop shadows, and represented physically in solid shapes and lines. This conflict between surface and space confuses fore and background, anxiously compacting space and disturbing the distinction between setting and figure.

These works propose a human existence in multiple environments. The motif of our subcutaneous layer suggests our ability to thrive in these diverse settings. Further, the loose style of portraiture and the formal conflict between picture planes blurs the boundaries between person, ocean, and sky. Inspired by our subcutaneum, these portraits ask you to look through the layers of process, and consider the fluidity between ourselves and our settings.