“My paintings address the question of reality vs. imagination by attempting to bring the beauty of the Earth’s ice landscapes to a greater audience. All Polar landscapes are dominated by an absence that expands as you get further from the equator. In this absence, there is a clarity that exists nowhere else on the planet.
Painting ice also reminds me of the transitory nature of water. Of course, ice melts, but some of these scenes included ice that was thousands of years old. In all of my paintings, the background noise of global warming is present. Even though I rarely include anything manmade in my paintings, it’s hard not to notice that this ice is not permanent, even if it is tens of thousands of years old.
In addition to my travels, I have also been studying watercolorists and other painters who have used color very dramatically. While some people assume that watercolors will be less brilliant than oils or acrylics, I beg to differ. I have been experimenting with different surfaces and ways to show these pieces so that the viewer can see the excitement that watercolors can produce. This is a journey I will be on for a while.
In February of 2012, I was honored to be named as a member of the 2013 voyage of the Arctic Circle, an artist residency which takes place on a 100 yr.-old schooner, 500 miles from the North Pole. “In Hot Pursuit of the Cold and Ice” – an article about the trip, was published in the New York Times in March 2015.”
Lisa Goren was born in California and raised in NYC. And yet, she has dreamed of Polar landscapes since she was in her teens. Her first trip took her to Antarctica where she was inspired and captivated by the landscape. She has also traveled to Iceland, Alaska, and the High Arctic to increase her understanding of the Polar Regions. Her watercolors show an unfamiliar landscape in a new light. By using vibrant colors and taking risks with different surfaces, she makes the viewer reevaluate their understanding of both these landscapes and their beliefs in the potential of the medium. Her works create questions about the nature of abstraction and our planet as many of her pieces are representations of unfamiliar, threatened terrains.
Lisa’s work can be found in personal collections all over the world, from Australia to Iceland, and the United States. She was awarded a place on the 2013 voyage of The Arctic Circle, an artist residency sailing near the North Pole. This “trip of a lifetime” is just the beginning of the next phase of her Polar work. Lisa has been working out of Boston, Massachusetts for the past 25 years.
