Symbolism and Subtleties - Lee Waisler

We had the pleasure of Lee Waisler coming by our NYC gallery this week as we prepare for his upcoming exhibition Kinetic Energy opening in March. Waisler’s new body of work synthesizes material and form, medium and image, sculpture and painting, creating active, kinetic energy from the initial inertia. The resulting images capture both stillness as well as movement, and the beauty of raw elements.

Waisler incorporates certain colors and materials that are meaningful or symbolic and are used for their particular properties and associations. As the artist explained during his visit, wood is used in many of the pieces because it is a natural material, and he is interested in its raw properties and the associations those imply. In other instances, such as in his use of sand, the interest lies in the symbolic properties of the material, in this case the idea of the passage of time. 

In the late 90s, Waisler spent four months in India to prepare for an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New Delhi, opening a continued international and cultural dialogue in his art. Following this time in India, Waisler has continued to build upon themes of symbolism and meditation. Beginning his work in portraits in the early 2000s, Waisler connected his earlier work in activism with his interest in the symbolic. His current portrait subjects span the arts from Botticelli’s Venus to Virginia Woolf, showing an introspective, symbolic approach to portraiture that melds the sculptural and the painterly, and is reflective of his approach to his abstract compositions. 

We are excited to present both the portraits as well as the recent abstract works at the upcoming show in March!