Leza Lidow

Leza Lidow’s sculpture work has an other-worldly and very surreal feel to it, with swirling imagery covering the fiberglass bodies that she paints on. I noticed a consistent theme of gender roles in her work. Many of her pieces seem to question these roles in our society, dramatically incorporating both color and modeling to portray this. Lidow uses the mannequins to explore the human anatomy juxtaposed with symbolic imagery. 

Thorn Roses, oil on fiberglass mannequin, date not listed

Thorn Roses is absolutely gorgeous to me. I love the way the female form is complimented by the roses but contrasted by the violent thorns on their stems. The color choices she makes in the stems make them look like trails of blood running down her body. It creates a tension that very much evokes the idea of beauty and pain going together hand in hand. The pose of the mannequin also adds to this idea as well. She appears to be holding herself in a hug-like embrace that references caring for one’s body. In this case, the thorns are painful but she adorns herself in them anyway because they make her beautiful. 

Ascending, oil on fiberglass mannequin, date not listed

Bonbon, oil on fiberglass mannequin, date not listed