a hid·ing place
a/ˈhīdiNG/plās/
1. a space of reckoning
2. a temporary shelter from external threat or danger
We are sheltered in walls like a hiding place. In the city of Philadelphia where we live, these walls shield us, providing retreat from the outer world. However, they are also subject to invasion, demolition, and rapid gentrification: eroded by time and trauma to protect what’s within.
Sferlazza makes paintings of decaying walled facades in the post-industrial landscape. Sourcing sites from memory and experience, she paints the histories of human interaction these walls absorb, like transitory records or scars on a body. She is inspired by the many metaphors implied by the term wall in relation to hiding: “walling something in” protects or conceals, whereas “letting your walls down” exposes truth. Her paintings-weathered, rusted, carved, pressed, burned, bruised-re-interpret battled exteriors to make transience, and our own struggle against time, palpable.
For more info on the artist: lorenasferlazza.com
