Lisa Rybovich Crallé

From wardrobe designer to set designer to professor to artist, Lisa Rybovich Crallé is a powerhouse artist, intellect, and maker. Her exploration of self-expression, identity, and how people present themselves in the world manifests in elongated, hanging sculptural forms that she calls ‘Bangles’. Stringy synthetic hair wraps around fleshy tubular forms that hang limp at the whim of gravity. With their peculiar humanoid shapes, these Bangles have personalities of their own.

Crallé deconstructs materials that are familiar to us – denim, pleather, hair ties, house keys, coiffed synthetic hair – and pieces them together to create abstract sculptures that look like colossal pieces of disjointed jewelry. The materials she employs reflect her extensive research on self-expression, wardrobe, costume, body language, and display. Personal adornment allows us to read each other and send tacit messages to those around us about who we are and what we value. These signifiers have become crucial to our cultural language, often times subconsciously. Crallé’s work simplifies these big ideas into compelling pieces that are equal parts intriguing and playful.

The Bangles series is only one facet of Crallé’s art practice – she is an interdisciplinary artist who delves into performance, installation, drawing, painting, and sculpture. These other ventures include her project Heavy Breathing, a series of experimental movement seminars designed by artists combining physical activity with group discussion on ideas related to their creative practice. Having a background in theater, Crallé’s connection with movement and collaboration helps to shape the other mediums that she works in.

For Limited Edition, Crallé expands on her Bangles series to bring us a massive suspended tubular sculpture that hangs from our rafters, paired with a large canvas mounted on the main lobby wall. Exploring many of the ideas mentioned above, these works deconstruct our outward identities and put them back together again. When in the presence of this work, don’t forget to look up.
www.lisaRcralle.com