Liza LouProsody2024

Prosody vividly showcases individual paint strokes, or beadstrokes, that appear to blend seamlessly yet remain distinctly separate. Since beads naturally resist blending or mixing, Lou reinterprets Frank Stella’s directive to “paint as good as in the tube,” applying pure color directly to the canvas. The recognizable strokes create a sense of three-dimensionality, layering beads and brushstrokes on top of one another. The resulting composition is a dynamic canvas, with an effect that makes the brushstrokes appear to pop out of the surface.

What initially seems like spontaneous, in-the-moment brushstrokes reveals, upon closer inspection, a meticulous arrangement of beads, each grain forming an essential relationship with those around it. These individual beads coming together to create a cohesive stroke invite us to reimagine painting and reinterpret the compositional approaches of traditional abstract expressionist art.