‘Paradise How’ is visual artist Liesbeth Touw’s ongoing exploration of the boundaries between longing and reality and the gradual blurring of these lines. Her multimedia works for ‘Paradise How’ are residues; remains of her search for a definition of paradise. she chooses the abstract form to underscore the unattainable completeness of paradise, shifting the accent towards the tangible world through the use of realistic elements. Ultimately her quest leads her to the residue, shutting out the background noise.
Touw focuses on play and playing, focusing and losing focus, in which playing contributes a new dimension of timelessness and space. during the research she conducted for this project she came into contact with dr Pim van der Pol, whose thesis ‘Kracht en Macht van spel en Verbeelding’ [Strength and Power of Play and Imagination] was published in 2005. Additionally, Touw attentively read Joke Hermsen’s book ‘Stil de tijd, pleidooi voor een langzame toekomst’ (Let time stand still: in defence of a slower future, 2010). The perspectives outlined in these works inspired the artist, while offering new leads for her work.
During the opening Touw will engage in a three-way discussion with Van der Pol and Hermsen, who each have their own vision on the themes addressed in ‘Paradise How’. Touw exhibits multimedia work and her artist book ‘It Skips Every Time I Touch It’ was recently included in the collections of the MoMa, the New York Public Library and the Centre Pompidou/ Bibliotheque Kandinsky.
Liesbeth Touw studied at the Utrecht School for the Arts and was artist in residence at the European Ceramic Work Centre in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Her preferred media are photography and film and she makes installations in a diversity of combinations. Her work has been exhibited in the Netherlands and abroad.