Procession, oil and mixed media on wood panel

Liza Montgomery is a painter and mixed media artist whose work explores the identities that we construct for ourselves. The artist’s recent works are primarily concerned with female identities and expressions of, as Liza calls it, “obsessive self-representation.”

My Left Hand, Adorned: Accumulation Study #1, ink, gesso and found paper on wood panel

Some of Liza’s most recent works fall into her series entitled Rituals. The works in this series seem to take a jumping-off point from beauty, in particular the rituals of beauty and makeup. However, the artist layers these concepts with more complex and esoteric ideas of rituals, from private, personal routine to religious processions.

www.lizamontgomery.com

I enjoy the way that Liza’s painting style fits in with her subject matter. Most of her works are painted onto wood panels, and the artist tends to leave quite a lot of the bare wood grain showing in the finished pieces. With detailed line art and looser, almost unfinished painted moments, Liza enforces the idea that the subjects of her paintings are taking part in routines and acts that are ongoing.

Self-Portrait as an Enlightened Artist, oil and mixed media on wood