Elisa Soliven-Gerber

BIO

Elisa Soliven is drawn to clay for the immediacy with which it conveys the working process, and for how it captures a sense of the talismanic in the ordinary. Her sculptures record her material inquiries and capture her subjects through an archaeological accumulation of modeled layers of clay and embedded ceramic. Working with constructed forms in clay and found materials, she reworks the familiarity of the everyday object of the vessel into idiosyncratic inventions. Elisa Soliven was born in New York City and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. Her work has been reviewed by Two Coats of Paint, Art Critical, and Hyperallergic. Soliven is co-founder of the Bushwick-based artist collective Underdonk. She received a BA from Bryn Mawr College and an MFA from Hunter College.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My latest series are figurative that also suggest architectural formations. Through transformations, I then move into material and formal creation. This body of work is painted in various shades of earth tones, and grays, with the mosaic-like modules bringing color to the sculpture. I add irregular pieces of ceramic that I then build the piece around and meld into new multifarious structures. This almost archaeological method often determines the shape because I am working with unique pieces that have their own forms. I unify them together into a whole, transforming them into a unified yet irregular body that conjures both man-made and geologic formations. My sculptures serve as a recorded inquiry in capturing the talismanic essence of the figure and more abstract connotations of love and loss. Working with clay simultaneously retains an immediacy with the hands-on working process and captures a sense of wonder in the ordinary and ultimately, preserves a reimagined history. Transfiguring these quotidian monuments through archaeological accumulation of modeled layers of clay, and embedded ceramic, the familiar becomes a vessel for personal mythologies and social commentaries.

Interview with Elisa Soliven-Gerber

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became interested in becoming an artist? 

Both of my parents immigrated to the U.S. and met in New York City. My mother was from the Philippines and my father was from Germany.  They immigrated to New York City in their twenties and met where they both worked.  My parents loved art, so I often went to museums with them. I remember drawing and painting from when I was really young. 

Can you tell us about some of your most memorable early influences?

I studied art history and studio art at Bryn Mawr College. At the age of twenty, I had very significant deaths in my family and I turned to art. I was painting landscapes and still lives at the time.  Morandi was an early influence.  I love looking at his tactile, tender paintings.  

Where are you currently based and what brought you there? Are there any aspects of this specific location or community that have inspired your work?

I am currently based in Gowanus, Brooklyn.  I have a studio adjacent to the gallery, Tappeto Volante.  We co-founded it together with curator Paola Gallio, and artists Jared Deery and JJ Manford.  Our mission is to give under-represented artists and emerging curators a space to bring projects to life.  The gallery is in its second year and has given solo shows to a few artists such as: Vicente Matte, Gretta Johnson, Bea Parsons, Keiko Narahashi, and Mary DeVincentis.  It also hosts vibrantly themed group exhibitions,  including ‘Jump Shot’, it’s yearly invitational ‘La Banda’, and its current show ‘Animal People’.

What is your studio space like? What makes your space unique to you? 

My studio is in an industrial building in Gowanus close to the canal.  The previous tenant left kitchen cabinets installed and so I have a useful wood counter.  There used to be a window in my studio but in the architectural plans the space was drawn with a door.  The landlord changed the window into a door that opens out onto a fire escape. 

If you don't have a typical day, what is an ideal day like?

An ideal day is to have several hours in the studio.  I have about two days per week with longer hours where I am able to make my work.  The other days are shorter, but I still go a few days per week to the studio. 

What gets you in a creative groove or flow? 

Music gets me into a groove.  I find I can concentrate well when there’s music playing, but I also listen to the news while working. 

How do you maintain momentum in your practice? 

Working on a series helps me maintain momentum in the studio. I’ve found that you can go deeper with one structure if you work on a series.  I find with clay it’s better to build the work slowly.  If I’m working on a few pieces at the same time, I can build them together and allow them to dry gradually. 

What medium/media are you working in right now? What draws you to this particular material or method? 

Ceramic glaze, when it’s fired, creates a fused surface and becomes part of the piece. Clay allows you to draw into it and you don’t need an armature.  I turned to clay because of its tactility and its ability to record touch.  

Can you walk us through your overall process in making your current work? 

I add irregular pieces of fired clay that I then build the piece around and meld into new multifarious structures. This almost archaeological method often determines the shape of the piece because I am working with unique pieces that have their own distinct forms. I try to unify them together into a whole, using the grid, transforming them into a singular, unified yet irregular body that conjures both man-made and idiosyncratic formations.

Does drawing play a role in your process? 

For a few years, I made watercolor drawings using the grid and now I am coming back to this process.  During the pandemic, I started drawing with oil pastels.  I found that I could keep drawing while being at home with my family.  Then in 2022, Lisha Bai of Studio Archive Project asked me to do a collaboration with the fashion designer, Mara Hoffman.  We installed several of my sculptures and I made a larger drawing for her new space in Soho.  I find that I really love drawing large.  The drawings connect to the structures in my sculpture where I am able to explore forms and arrangements.  

What is exciting about your process currently?

I decide on specific dimensions for a grouping of sculptures and then from there I work within those parameters. I symbolically transfigure the subject through an archaeological accumulation of modeled layers of clay and embedded ceramic pieces.  The body of the work is painted in fields of various shades with the mosaic-like modules bringing color to the sculpture. My sculptures serve as a recorded inquiry in capturing the talismanic essence of the human figure. Working with clay simultaneously retains an immediacy with which conveys the hands-on working process and preserves a reimagined history. 

Can you talk about some of the ongoing interests, imagery, and concepts that have informed your process and body of work over time? How do you anticipate your work progressing in the future?

From the beginning, I’ve always worked with the figure making portraits.  Now they are no longer literal portraits but rather busts, a representation of the upper part of the human figure, head, chest, and shoulders.  I call this series ‘Aster Busts’ since they have a star formation for the face and also depict the neck, chest and shoulders. Most of them have no features and some have facial features.  The folded arms then become a holding part of the sculpture.  I am able to place in the arms a cast porcelain object such as a fish or fruit.

Do you pursue any collaborations, projects, or careers in addition to your studio practice? If so, can you tell us more about those projects, and are there connections between your studio practice and these endeavors?

I’ve done a few commissions recently, vessels and large drawings.  One commission was for the Esme Hotel in Miami, where I made twelve masks for their space.  I really enjoyed making this group of masks. I’d like to go one day go and see the space with the work installed.  While I wasn’t planning to make a large series of masks at the time, I developed this body of work because of the commission.

Organizing shows has always been part of practice.  I organized a show at Gallery 128 on the theme of the home, then a large group show at Vaudeville Park called ‘Dance Ghost’ that was around the time when JJ and I first met.  We started collaborating together and it made sense to organize a show that was about artists making work together. We then co-founded Underdonk with a group of our peers in 2013. Underdonk is made up of around ten artists, and each person is able to curate their own exhibition with the rest of the group providing support.  In 2019 I organized the group show ‘Fur Cup’ bringing together artists’ work and making connections around the idea of the vessel. It was a group exhibition of sculptural work that brought together thirty artists using a variety of materials.  The show’s title makes reference to Meret Oppenheim’s ‘Object’, 1936, a work which utilizes a fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon. This exhibition gains inspiration from its use of somewhat contradictory juxtapositions of association, soft and hard, animal and object, sensual and utilitarian, to create an uncanny everyday object.  While there was a wide range of sculpture in 'Fur Cup', all hold true to the idea of an open or closed form that combines formal qualities into unusual arrangements.

Have you had any epiphanies recently that have changed the course of your work or caused you to shift directions?

I find drawing has generated epiphanies that I would otherwise not have.  I made a drawing of a bust and then colored it a way that I wasn’t glazing the bodies.  Then I tried this new way of coloring the works with glaze and it led to a new development that I hadn’t anticipated.  

Can you share some of your recent influences? Are there specific works—from visual art, literature, film, or music—that are important to you?

Looking at ancient art is important to me and is a source of inspiration. A recent show “She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400-2000 B.C.” at the Morgan Library was an incredible show.  It was an exhibition that captured women’s lives in ancient Mesopotamia.  There was one sculpture that depicted Enheduanna clasping a vessel meant as an offering or as a depiction of abundance.  

There’s a wide range of music that I enjoy listening to in the studio, but these days I often play the music of Magnetic Fields, Toro Y Moi, Arthur Russell, Aldous Harding, Depeche Mode, Liam Kazar, MGMT, Japanese Breakfast, and Big Thief. 

Who are some contemporary artists you’re excited about? 

I’m excited to see the work of Simone Leigh.  Her large scale sculptures with incredible craftsmanship celebrate the complexity of Black women‘s lives and the work of anonymous women.  She works in different materials and combines them in fascinating ways, using various sculptural techniques.  Steve Keister, developed the idea of an “ancient-modern” correlation, seeing the connection between his collection of styrofoam cartons and the inspiration that he gathered from sculptural relief forms of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. Through casting and mold-making techniques, his work embodies this correlation.

What is the best exhibition you’ve seen in recent memory and why does stand out?

Meret Oppenheim’s retrospective, 'My Exhibition' at Moma, who is primarily known for ‘Object’, was a revelation. Each work in her retrospective stands for itself and is excellent in its own right.  Many of the works are hybrids, a cross between both painting and sculpture.  

Do you have any tips or advice that someone has shared with you that you have found particularly helpful?

Find a group of artists that you respect and admire and create a community where you support each other.  

What are you working on in the studio right now? What’s coming up next for you?

Right now, I am working towards a two person booth with High Noon gallery where I will be showing a series of ‘Aster Busts’.  In August this year, I will be having a solo show at LABspace upstate where I plan to show both sculpture and drawings.  

Anything else you would like to share?  

I am excited to be currently having a three person show called ‘Sauntering Days’ at Harper’s and a two person show, ‘Hands On’ with Janice Sloane at Project Artspace through May 2023.  

To find out more about Elisa Soliven check out her Instagram and website.