about lisa breyer’s work

lisa breyer creates subjective spaces, inhabited by figures that dissolve and reassemble.

The artist avoids a pre-defined plan, instead embracing the unknown in their painterly process. This “unknowing” approach isn’t devoid of knowledge – past experiences and muscle memory guide her hand. Her focus lies in capturing the in-between spaces, the moments of transition and potential. Imperfections and interventions become integral elements, creating a sense of “in-betweenness” on the canvas. This concept extends to the figures depicted, captured in a moment of suspended movement, neither static nor fully formed. The artist draws inspiration from life models, fleeting observations, and photographs, seeking a universal “body-feeling” rather than specific portrayal. Their artistic journey centers on the intersection of drawing and painting, aiming to combine the immediacy of drawing with the deliberate process of oil painting.

Her Tarot series offers a playful approach to the genre of the female portrait. While the structures are borrowed from historical portrait paintings, the focus is drawn to the coherence of the depicted subject itself: Each painting presents a woman, put in the center of a stage, surrounded by some of her personal objects. These theatrical and awkwardly pompous scenes are developed in a cooperative process between the artist and her model. A tarot session, in which a card is pulled, serves as a starting point for a conversation addressing questions of personality and spirituality.

Meeting Ghosts is a series of self-portraits which explore the logic of perspective and question the relation between the parts and the whole. Like in gravity, the figures are the source of a force field for the space and the objects around them. They are located in rooms that are familiar and at the same time dreamlike, built out of figurative shapes and abstract elements visualizing painterly movements. Small drawings can be read as notes of thoughts and let the viewer become part of the conversation.