Davidson Galleries | Michèle Landsaat | The Alchemy of Love | March 3 – April 29
March 3, 2023 – April 29, 2023
Michèle Landsaat | The Alchemy of Love
In-Person Viewing:
313 Occidental Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Opening Reception March 2, 6-8pm
Davidson Galleries is pleased to present The Alchemy of Love, a solo exhibition of Seattle-based artist Michèle Landsaat. This exhibition features a new body of work including the drypoint series, The Alchemy of Love, as well as papier-mâché sculptures and other new drypoints. Landsaat is known for her impressively delicate and fragile etchings that expose the simultaneous vulnerability and whimsicality of the world and its creatures. She is interested in the alchemical and slow process of creating illustrations which mirrors her scrupulous approach to storytelling. Landsaat’s new work addresses issues such as the “transformative potential of loss”, the rabbit holes of grief, and a new definition for true love. With the continued use of her signature creatures, new characters, settings, techniques, and tones emerge in service of these impassioned stories.
Artist Statement
“At times in life there are reminders that somewhere along the way something unconditionally flawless was lost. Sometimes loss is mundane: the little deaths one experiences during a simple day, such as a fleeting feeling time flew by and night has come before you’re ready. Other times, the feeling of absence is much bigger: the death of a love, the vanquishment of a dream, or whatever the heart holds most dear. This kind has the potential to tear one limb from limb, and you find yourself in utter darkness underneath the graves of the world.
“At such a depth, questions might materialize: ‘What was really lost?’ ‘When was it lost?’ ‘Is it personal or impersonal?’ A sojourn here, shatters clocks and dissolves the thin veil that divides life and death. It’s an imposed cooking in the flames of the intertwined nature of love and loss, as well as the impenetrable mystery of some elusive truth.
“For the alchemists, the process of turning lead into gold involved, among other things, subjecting substances to extreme conditions in order to achieve their opus. Loss, and the coinciding enigmatic experiences, are a type of extreme condition. Perhaps when space is made to endure these trials, the gold that was really lost is bound to emerge. , is an attempt to put images to this type of experience and to move with the feelings and physicality of it.
The Alchemy of Love, is an attempt to put images to this type of experience and to move with the feelings and physicality of it.”
