My Life in Art - Lis Mann
Lis Mann is a local freelance artist, tutor and mentor, who has exhibited in our 2020 exhibition, Textile Fusion, as well as annually in our Open Selected exhibitions. For many years, she attended Chenderit School’s evening pottery classes. Lis is a refugee from Vienna and art has always been an important part of her and her family’s life. Thank you, Lis, for sharing your life in art with us!
The Menin Road by Paul Nash (1919)
Paul Nash, The Menin Road, 1919, oil on canvas, 182.8 cm × 317.5 cm (Imperial War Museum, London)
Lis: Much of my art is autobiographical - I spent 6 years as a mature art student creating memory work. This Nash painting, which I saw in the Imperial War Museum, spoke to me of ruined lives and landscapes, inspiring me to paint a series of dark, desolate, war-torn landscapes. Nash spent his childhood in Buckinghamshire, where I also lived; however, his painting Whiteleaf Cross (1931) always brings back happy memories of living and walking in the area. Nash was a war artist and surrealist painter and it was hard to pick just one of his amazing, moving works.
Chichester Cathedral Tapestry by John Piper (1966)
John Piper, Chichester Cathedral Tapestry, 1966, tapestry (Chichester Cathedral, Chichester)
Lis: Piper was a diverse artist, creating paintings, collage, stained glass, textiles and photography, as well as designs for the stage. He had a modernist approach to painting using shapes and colour to capture the essence and emotion of his subjects, something I strive to do in my own imagery. On many visits to Chichester, where my daughter lives, I stand and stare at the tapestry and am overwhelmed by the scale, colours, and the amazing symbolism. I also love his wonderful printed textiles and strongly identify with his diversity. Many years ago I missed out on buying a Piper original for £250!
The High Priestess. Zweistromland by Anselm Kiefer (1985-9)
Anselm Kiefer, The High Priestess. Zweistromland, 1985-9
Lis: While visiting Berlin in the first year of my MA I encountered this installation, a wonderful monumental library with books made of lead. Working as a librarian after leaving school nurtured my close relationship with books. I created a series of clay books, which could not be destroyed, even when subject to the fire of the kiln, thus preserving rather than destroying them. My inspirations were the horror of the Nazi book burnings in 1933, Kiefer’s lead books and Rachel Whiteread’s concrete cast Holocaust memorial Nameless Library in Vienna. The emotion, symbolism and narrative in Kiefer’s art remain a constant inspiration to me.
Electric Prisms by Sonia Delaunay (1914)
Sonia Dulaunay, Electric Prisms, 1914, oil on canvas (Tate, London)
Lis: Standing in front of this painting at Tate Modern in 2015, I was transposed by the movement, intense colours and sheer energy of this piece. Sonia translated her abstract designs into fashion, patchwork, mosaics and her home surroundings. She and her husband Robert Delaunay, a painter, lived and wore their art, surrounding themselves and their friends with it. How wonderful to be so completely immersed. I often feel apologetic about my love of textile art, but Sonia was anything but apologetic; her abstracted cubist patterns defined her and tumbled out of the painted canvas into 3D craft objects.
Void by Daniel Libeskind with Fallen Leaves by Menasche Kadishman (1988-99)
Daniel Libeskind, Void & Menasche Kadishman, Fallen Leaves, 1988-89 (The Jewish Museum, Berlin)
Lis: I have visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin and The Imperial War Museum in Manchester, both designed by artist and architect, Daniel Libeskind, who is known for his ability to evoke ‘cultural’ memory in his buildings, often alluding to conflict and man’s inhumanity. I became quite emotional in the Void where, as the viewer, I was encouraged to stand and experience emptiness and loss. The Fallen Leaves exhibition added even more poignancy to my visit. I can only admire the geometric intersecting of the many lines in both museums, making them deliberately confusing and unsettling, elements of which can be seen in some of my art.
Mad Kid’s Bedroom Wall Pot by Grayson Perry (1996)
Grayson Perry, Mad Kid’s Bedroom Wall Pot, 1996, ceramic (Crafts Council Collection, London)
Lis: I first saw this pot in an exhibition in London. I was totally unaware of the narrative and just thought it was beautiful. The second time I saw it was at The Heseltine Gallery as part of the Crafts Council exhibition. By then I had a better understanding of art as a means of conveying messages. Grayson Perry was influenced by Joseph Beuys, who famously said ‘every man is an artist’; this philosophy runs through Perry’s life. My ‘Beuys-influenced’ MA tutor helped me produce autobiographical works which, like Grayson’s pot, could look beautiful, despite their sometimes uncomfortable narrative.
Why do you #LOVEArt?
Lis: I love art when it is not elitist; art for me encompasses life where the smallest act is creative. No time since I was at college has art meant more to me than in the last year, where I have truly come face to face with the privilege of being to express myself visually, not for financial reward, not for praise, or gain, but purely for the joy of doing what I love best. I love art, because it is often hard to do, because inspiration is sometimes is hard to find and because despite all the setbacks I just have to keep doing it.
Read more #LOVEArt blog features from ‘My Life in Art‘ & more here.