Rachel Lachowicz at Shoshana Wayne Gallery

Who knew you could translate cosmetic products into meaningful art? Rachel's Lachowicz's did and she's been doing it for years.  Her practice uses such products as lipstick and eyeshadow pigment to explore the meaning of feminism.  Her manipulation of the products to create work that is about women, from women and relates to women, and their struggle with their femininity. Her use of different types of pigment is incredibly detailed and intricate. I enjoyed seeing how she designed the plexiglass containers in all sorts of shapes and sizes varyingly placed combinations of hues and shades of blue pigment. Instead of packing the pigment tightly into each shape, the product was sifted into the plexiglass creating yet another unexpected texture. The other work that stood out was a pink structure made of soap and designed from styrofoam buffers. The pink pigment is one she designed and the closer you get your nose is greeted with the scent is of bergamot, a nod to the location of the gallery.

Trine Ellitsgaard

Trine's process picks up weaving inspirations from all sorts of things. In her current exhibition at the Latin American Masters Gallery in Bergamot Station, she demonstrates why she is a well regarded weaver from Oaxaca. Originally Trine is from Norway where she began her career as a weaver. At some point during her youth she visited Mexico and was smitten and decided to settle in Oaxaca. As a weaver she learned to incorporate and be influences by some of the local traditional styles of her surroundings. She does however, get inspired by circumstances and events that happen around her. Two works in the show examine the influence of a youngster, who in the absence of parents, decided to cut his own hair. One is the result of that action and the other is the image of the re-growth of the hair, both beautifully rendered. Once you know the backstory, the work is even more compelling.

Her Scandinavian background is more than evident in her work. The ability to hold back the influences of her location, which could overwhelm her work with color and textures, but she is able to effectively combine many different resources like gold thread and plastic, paper and silk, sisal and seeds where the organic is paired with inorganic, luxurious with pedestrian, rough with smooth, shiny with sensual that you just spin around looking at the work and comparing and examining the how each of her influences result in the work. The work above is what I found most interesting. It’s core is made by the indigenous women who weave palm leaves into rattles for sale to tourists. She collects the rattles then weaves them together binding them with horsehair to create an architectural structure perfect for hanging.

Things to see at the new Resnick Pavillian at LACMA

 Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700–1915  October 2, 2010–March 6, 2011


Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico October 2, 2010–January 9, 2011


Eye for the Sensual: Selections from the Resnick Collection   October 2, 2010–January 9, 2011