STATEMENT
My images begin as Polaroid photographs. Some are taken with a Polaroid I-Type camera; others are digital images turned into Polaroids using a Polaroid Lab printer. I physically manipulate these images, in order to change the look of their surfaces and to add a sense of movement and fluidity.
I first experimented with instant Polaroid pictures as a student. Upon returning to the film about 15 years ago, I found that the emulsion’s formula had changed. Any manipulation has to be done soon after the photos’ creation. Fortunately, the woods and parks near my apartment provide inspiration and a variety of trees, plants and gardens. And now the advent of the new Lab printer allows me to work with subjects from farther afield, and to explore the different effects that result from this technology.
When having my images printed, onto paper or occasionally large pieces of canvas, I usually keep the almost-square proportions of the Polaroid film. I think this creates an initial impression of formality that contrasts with the added lines and textures a viewer will see when looking at the photographs more closely. Sometimes a face or figure seems to emerge from the scene, or the colors change as I work on manipulating the photos. I try to enjoy this element of chance.
Website – http://lizdemayo.com/
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
| 2021 | Canvases for my Neighbors, Beak Street and, Seaman Avenue, North Manhattan |
| 2019, 18 | Open Studios, Annual Uptown Arts Stroll |
| 2013 | Farmhouse Transformations Installation Dyckman Farmhouse Museum |
| 2011 | Changes: Polaroid Impressions Whittaker Center Gallery, Educational Alliance |
| 2009 | Views and Impressions / Polaroid Photographs Gold Wing Gallery, Hebrew Tabernacle |
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| 2023 | Exposure, Ceres Gallery, NYC |
| 2023, 2010, 2009 | Art in the Garden, Riverside Inwood Neighborhood Garden (RING) |
| 2022 | Mother Earth Female Aspect Gallery in the Gazebo, Bruce’s Garden |
| 2017 | Bridging the Invisible Divide Inwood Artworks Gallery |
GRANTS and RELATED EXPERIENCE
Participant, “The Francis Hines Project”, providing photos for use in catalogs and in the film “In Hines Sight”, 2019 – present
Artist Walk and Talk, Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, 2013
Recipient, NoMAA Grant for Individual Artists, 2011 and 2013
Participant, NoMAA Artist Talk, 2011
EDUCATION
1977 BFA, New York University School of the Arts