Artists
David, Lizza May
Flowers Beneath Our Feet, 2021
study with aquarell, photo: Eric Tschernow
Lizza May David is a painter. And it is through painting, which requires a European mindset and a certain modern technique, that the artist develops a personal project to de-stabilize and transform
the phenomenon of painting itself. Painting, tied to modern civilization through art history and the logic of aesthetics, is the practice that Lizza May David masters - to turn it inside out. The artist envisions this turn from the membrane of the canvas
itself; this means, from its own materiality, the earthy quality of the canvas and the oily substance. It is about a “carnal” aesthetics of painting. Apart from painting, Lizza May David has projects which stem from a personal history of migration, form her
interest in museums and objects and from a political
engagement with migrant communities in Germany.
A crucial aspect is her research about “objects” from the Philippines which can be found in German collections. Here, the artist goes beyond by reflecting
on “everyday utensils” in cultural contexts. By contextualizing “everyday utensils” in relation to people, the project’s aim is to humanize them and expose
the politics of western museums as intimately tied
to an epistemology of death. In “Snare for birds”, she works together with Filipino diaspora artists. The artist is also part of the Asian-German network “korientation”, engaging on issues of Anti-Asian racism. Additionally, she is part of the activist group “Alpas”, organizing to support the Filipino migrant
community in Berlin.
Migration and the geographies of the Pacific
(Philippines and Mexico) are also key points in the work between Lizza May David and Gabriel Rossell Santillán. Both artists have travelled together to the Pacific Ocean and created different pieces taking into account historical context, culture, objects, intuition and precolonial imagination. Through poetic
and artistic work, intertwined with botany and the archive, they engage in a type of knowledge production deeply connected to non-western historical and contemporary forms of imagination.
Text: Andrea Meza Torres
Lizza May David is a painter. And it is through painting, which requires a European mindset and a certain modern technique, that the artist develops a personal project to de-stabilize and transform
the phenomenon of painting itself. Painting, tied to modern civilization through art history and the logic of aesthetics, is the practice that Lizza May David masters - to turn it inside out. The artist envisions this turn from the membrane of the canvas
itself; this means, from its own materiality, the earthy quality of the canvas and the oily substance. It is about a “carnal” aesthetics of painting. Apart from painting, Lizza May David has projects which stem from a personal history of migration, form her
interest in museums and objects and from a political
engagement with migrant communities in Germany.
A crucial aspect is her research about “objects” from the Philippines which can be found in German collections. Here, the artist goes beyond by reflecting
on “everyday utensils” in cultural contexts. By contextualizing “everyday utensils” in relation to people, the project’s aim is to humanize them and expose
the politics of western museums as intimately tied
to an epistemology of death. In “Snare for birds”, she works together with Filipino diaspora artists. The artist is also part of the Asian-German network “korientation”, engaging on issues of Anti-Asian racism. Additionally, she is part of the activist group “Alpas”, organizing to support the Filipino migrant
community in Berlin.
Migration and the geographies of the Pacific
(Philippines and Mexico) are also key points in the work between Lizza May David and Gabriel Rossell Santillán. Both artists have travelled together to the Pacific Ocean and created different pieces taking into account historical context, culture, objects, intuition and precolonial imagination. Through poetic
and artistic work, intertwined with botany and the archive, they engage in a type of knowledge production deeply connected to non-western historical and contemporary forms of imagination.
Text: Andrea Meza Torres