Liza Lou


Alena Williams: What was the nature of your work before you started emp loying beads and have you ever considered the possibility of working in other media?

Liza Lou: I was, and still am, a painter and a sculptor. I see beads as simply another form of paint. I work in a variety of media to realize my work: papier-mâché, fiberglass resin, wood, found materials, acrylic paint, and then, finally, I apply beads to the completed sculpture. In Homette (1999-2000), a 35 foot-long mobile home recently on show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, I started to add an element of video to my work and, since then, I have been experimenting more with film.

Alena Williams: It is commonly thought that consistent engagement in a repetitive act is an expression of obsessive compulsive disorder. Does your work reflect this in any way

Liza Lou: I reject any kind of psychobabble attached to my creative process. An obsessive-compulsive personality is someone who has no control over his or her fanatical activities. For example, there are people who need to perform certain “rituals,” such as counting to 100 between each step they take. It is wrong to compare that kind of mental anguish with the dignity of applying oneself to a task that requires great tenacity and endurance. I would say it takes great love to do something well…


The full text is published in "tema celeste" No. 85, May-June 2001.




Alena Williams