Mixed Media artist Lizzie Gill will be displaying her “Summer Solstice” exhibition at Montauk Beach House until the end of June 2019. Gill evokes themes from personal history and memories. She states “The works don’t truncate, sever, or splay: rather, they open into and onto new vistas showing not just where we are, but will be.“
We sat down for a little Q&A:
I love the name Summer Solstice for the show. Besides being the longest day of the year does it evoke any emotions for you? Was there a special memory that you had one year on this day?
The Summer Solstice makes me excited for the promise of what’s to come and nostalgic for years past. It’s always so exciting and unknown, especially as you’re growing up. I used to go to Summer camp in Maine when I was a kid, always leaving home around this time. Summertime holds so many formative memories and experiences, it’s a feeling you just can’t shake!
The name Vacation Sex is great. I think everyone can relate to this or I hope they did/ will at some point in their life. Was there a certain city that this piece inspired you to make?
London! This piece was inspired by a comment my best friend’s mother made about a relationship I had at the time. Always frank & shooting straight – whether you asked for it, or not, she told you her opinion. I mentioned I was seeing someone who lived in London, we were in a long distance relationship and that I was in love with him- to which she replied: “Oh honey, that’s just vacation sex.” I subsequently balled, held a grudge and then invited her to my wedding with the Londoner a year later. My inspiration for titles always come from interactions, or overheard conversations and the image comes from a vintage Pan Am Airline, which I knew the iconic jab was creatively destined for.
At what point in your life did you know you would become an artist?
I think when I made the commitment to study the practice in undergraduate. Which can be a gamble creatively and financially, but I can now see how it helped me become an entrepreneur. Which I think is an important bridge for emerging artists between wanting and being.
