At this point, most of us are desperate for some signs of spring and Ysabel LeMay delivers. In her solo show at Lanoue Gallery in Boston’s South End through April 11, 2015, LeMay’s large and effervescent “digital hypercollages” are pulsing with life.
“Ornatus”, 48”x 57” C-print on acrylic by Ysabel LeMay (courtesy of the artist and Lanoue Gallery, Boston)
With a background in advertising and training as a painter, LeMay’s outlook is as optimistic as her creations are detailed. After immersing herself in a natural locale and extensively photographing the flora and fauna, she returns to her studio with an expanded image bank and an intuitive, aesthetic drive. LeMay lets the theme of each piece reveal itself as she works, feeling – as many novelists also attest – like a conduit for the work to “tell its own story”.
“Air”, 50”x 35” C-print on acrylic by Ysabel LeMay (courtesy of the artist and Lanoue Gallery, Boston)
Clearly, this has been an enthusiastically greeted endeavor because, when I arrived at the gallery, several of the twelve large pieces in the show were out “on approval”. Nonetheless, I noticed that LeMay’s work seems to fall into two broad categories: those pieces with all-over patterns of nature in imagined environments resembling places like jungles and forests, and those pieces with a centrally located focal object, like a horse, goldfishes or corset, that are embellished with elements like flowers and birds. In “Air”, I can easily imagine the birds perched atop that corset making a delivery to Disney’s “Cinderella” as she prepares for the ball.
“Whispers”, 72”x 33” C-print on acrylic by Ysabel LeMay (courtesy of the artist and Lanoue Gallery, Boston)
Though replete with meticulous details and layering, LeMay seems unencumbered by a search for hidden meanings. Rather, she says she is guided by a “calling to bring forth visions of resplendent beauty, to imagine wonderful other worlds and share them, knowing they are not fantasies at all, but invocations of nature’s essential truths.” If you’ve got a case of spring fever, you can indulge it here.
“Illuminated II”, 48”x 48” C-print on paper by Ysabel LeMay (courtesy of the artist and Lanoue Gallery, Boston)
For more information about this show, go to: http://www.lanouefineart.com/
Feature Image: “Metamorphose”, 48”x 48” C-print on paper by Ysabel LeMay (courtesy of the artist and Lanoue Gallery, Boston)
Utopia”, 50”x 56” C-print on paper by Ysabel LeMay (courtesy of the artist and Lanoue Gallery, Boston)
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