Liz Deschenes

Liz Deschenes is an American contemporary artist and educator whose creative endeavors blur the boundaries between sculpture and imagery. Her artistic practice delves into the realms of post-conceptual photography and Minimalism, offering innovative perspectives on these established artistic traditions.

Biography of Liz Deschenes

Born in 1966 in Boston, Massachusetts, Liz Deschenes spent her formative years on the South Shore before establishing herself as an artist in New York City, USA.

During the mid-1980s, Deschenes embarked on her artistic journey at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), initially drawn to the fields of painting or architecture. However, her passion for photography blossomed, leading her to graduate from RISD in 1988 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in photography.

Throughout her early career, Deschenes honed her skills in photography labs, immersing herself in the intricacies of chemical and analog printing processes while working as a technician.

Exploring the Artistic Vision of Liz Deschenes

Deschenes's artistic practice transcends the confines of singular technology, method, process, or subject matter, instead, centering on the elemental aspects of photography—light, paper, chemistry, and time.

Drawing inspiration from the legacy of Minimalism, Deschenes skillfully manipulates traditional photographic methods such as the photogram and the daguerreotype.

In 1997, Deschenes unveiled "Elevation #1-#7," a series of seven monochromatic dye transfer prints. These prints, mirroring the colors utilized by cartographers to denote varying elevations of the earth's surface, serve as a commentary on technological shifts within the medium, notably exploring the discontinuation of dye color transfer printing by Kodak in 1994.

Her 2007 series "Moiré" exemplifies Deschenes's penchant for experimentation. By photographing light passing through a perforated paper sheet and layering the negatives during the printing process, she creates abstract images imbued with a sense of dynamic motion. Complementing this series is "Red Transfer" (1997), a diptych of monochromatic dye transfer prints distinguished by subtle tonal variations.

In 2009, Deschenes conceived "Tilt / Swing," an installation comprising six "silver mirror" panels arranged in a floor-to-ceiling configuration. 

In her 2018 exhibition "Rates (Frames per Second)," Deschenes explores the proto-cinematic experiments of Étienne-Jules Marey. Divided into two series, "FPS (Frames per Second)" and "FPF (Frames per Feet)," the installation features works mounted directly onto vertical strips of dibond and pressed within thin, horizontal frames, respectively. The rhythmic progression of this series, synchronized with the viewer's footsteps, parallels the temporal capture of bodily movement by the camera.