Lia Halloran
She developed an early love for science during high school at her first job, where she performed cow eye dissections and laser demonstrations at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.
Her projects blend these ideas with that of mapping the physics of motion, as seen in The World Is Bound In Secret Knots and Dark Skate, or perception, scale, and giant crystal caves, as seen in The Only Way Out Is Through, or cabinets of curiosities and taxonomy, as seen in Wonder Room, or the periodic table of elements, as seen in Sublimation/Transmutation.
"[5] Wunderkammer, translated as "wonder rooms," were the precursors to cabinets of curiosities, "which contained collections of objects, minerals, and taxidermy animals of the natural world which science had yet to categorize.
These large-scale works "feature Halloran's unusual technique of laying ink on drafting film; the human form and the passage of time is simultaneously considered, where the organic body experiences a sublimation into the realm of the inanimate... Referencing rocks and crystals collected in Halloran's studio, the artist coerces the controlled movement of the ink from solution into solid.
The actual labor and process of Dark Skate addresses this modern disconnect, and humanizes the physical experience of living in the urban world.
[13] Halloran's series, Deep Sky Companion (2013, cliché-verre prints), is a permanent installation of 110 circular works at The Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, at Caltech in Pasadena, CA.
In a similarly exploratory fashion, Halloran's procedure is largely a matter of chance, as the inks and prints are whim to natural and chemical processes.
The 110 photographic works climb upwards through three stories of architect Thom Mayne's unique building of slanted ceilings and extreme planes, forcing viewers to mimic the physical experience of astronomers observing objects in deep space.
[14] In the series, Your Body is a Space That Sees (2016-2017, cyanotype print), Halloran continues the theme of exploring scientific classification systems by re-investigating the timeline of discovery to unearth influential women who contributed to the foundations of modern astronomy.
[16][17][18] Your Body Is a Space That Sees has been shown in multiple exhibitions at institutions including Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, LUX Institute, Schneider Museum of Art in Ashland, Oregon, University of Maryland, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and also in two large-scale exhibitions in Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 at LAX as part of an invitation from a partnership between LAWA and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
"Her ongoing investigations into the personal, physical, psychological, and scientific exploration of space are the primary focus of these new works as the viewer encounters Halloran both skateboarding the vast urban landscape of Los Angeles and flying above and around its dynamic terrain.
"[26] This piece has been shown at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Art Center's Mullins Gallery, The University of Maryland, and The Exploratorium in San Francisco.
Her images derivative of the symmetrical progressions of solar eclipses were made by harnessing the sun’s own rays, so that what results is both a direct dynamic embodiment and an affecting allegorical narrative at the same time.
[29] The Warped Side of the Universe, featuring Thorne's poetry alongside Halloran's paintings, doubles as a vehicle for communicating major scientific breakthroughs of our time to a wide audience.
[30][31][32][33] As an artist who often incorporates science and nature to create projects that draw from scientific materials, historical influences, and identities, Lia Halloran has participated in a wide range of interdisciplinary collaborations with scientists and architects, including an upcoming book with Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne about the ‘Warped Side of the Universe.’ Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally, and she is the recipient of various awards including an Art Works Grant from the National Endowment of the Arts,[34] The City of Los Angeles Visual Artist Fellowship,[35] a residency at Caltech and the Huntington Research Institute,[36] a residency at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, NY, and a residency at the American Natural History Museum Astrophysics Department in New York, among others.
