Artist Spotlight: Maryse Lörtscher

Mosaic Series, March 2014, watercolor, collage, ink, pencils by Maryse Lörtscher 

January 2015

Recently I was able to connect with Maryse Lörtscher, someone who lived in Senegal when I first arrived.  I did not get to know her there but friends connected us in Ghana.   Like me, Maryse is a world traveler.  She has lived in Mali, Haiti, Oman, Senegal, Indonesia, Egypt as well the United States where she will be moving shortly.
Marsyse studied biochemistry in her early years and later studied art, first obtaining a BFA in printmaking/drawing then an MFA in painting.  Her printmaking background predisposes her to create a lot of series on a theme.


detail

I discussed with her some of her thoughts behind her artwork.  She reflected that her interests studying biology and chemistry early on perhaps explain how her work evolves to sometimes microcosmic renditions.  She also mentioned that her mixed media- collages and painting- derive from the interest in "shadowing the information", something is erased and to writing that she refers to as asemic writing or pseudo writing.  She explained 'My work refers to altered communication.  You can see ghost images through and then make connections between the marks, symbols, images and text.  Trace of memories and events in my life.'
 

detail

Collaged images layer in combination with paint and the psydocalligraphy to peek through.  Those collaged elements come from museum pamphlets acquired from all over the world, her late father's stamp collection and magazines collected during her travels.  Many of her works have a strong fiber or fabric element as well.  She mentioned that quilters frequently pin her work on Pinterest as inspiration.  Color play is also a strong mark of her work.

The painting below, Writing on the Wall, symbolizes the signs of events to come, good and bad.  Many of her works are stories and expressions of her internal musings.  Maryse, however, prefers viewers to tell their own stories when looking at her work.  She says 'I don't consider my interpretation of my work to be the best.  My work is not there to pass on a message.'


Writing on the Wall 2011

More of her work can be found on her Facebook page or her website.

You can also view many more works and follow her work on Pinterest. 

*note Maryse spells her surname alternate ways, Lortscher and Loertscher.

Writing on the Wall detail 2011

Writing on the Wall detail 2011

recent works on paper

watercolor, ink and collage

Christmas Revels and Beautiful Calligraphy

This weekend I went to the DC Christmas Revels. I love the Revels and have been going yearly, since I was introduced by my husband's Boston based family. For those who don't know, the Christmas Revels takes their theme from a culture, researches the cultural customs from the area, and then has a play based loosely on these songs, stories and dances. In addition to the cultural theme the Revels has several standards. There is always a variation on the play St George and the Dragon, Morris Dancers, the cast and audience singing and dancing to the Lord of the Dance at the intermission, an excerpt from a letter by Fra Giovanni and a poem written by Susan Cooper, The Shortest Day which is always followed by calling out "Welcome Yule!" and finishes with all singing the Hogsmead Carol together.
This years Revels was one of my favorites. The theme was French Canadian and I have to admit I do not have a connection to the culture and did not have any expectations outside of my usual good time. I was very impressed by the singing of Riki Schneyer. She has a beautiful, smoky, warm voice. I strongly encourage you to check out the Revels for next year.
During the intermission, I went down to the sales table and LOVED the calligraphy by the artist Cari Ferraro. One can see her work at her website www.proseandletters.com. The picture in today's post is from one of her beautiful holiday cards and is used by permission.