Lisa Bowen is a mixed media artist who grew up in small-town England. As soon as she could, she moved to London to seek fame and fortune. She studied Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College between 1999-2003 where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts. She has exhibited in Barcelona, London and Sydney. After struggling for ten years she decided the streets of London were not paved with gold as she once dreamt. Lisa found her way to Australia & the glorious Inner West of Sydney, NSW. She has called Sydney home for the past four years; in love with its sunshine and creative community, her work has been given a new perspective.

Her work is kind of a celebration of failure: our flaws, personal problems, and losers in life and love. Lisa creates nostalgia around our funny quirks. In her recent work she uses crafty techniques such as cross-stitch as well as tapestry and weaving, a reference to Naive Art and work by Artists considered outside the Art scene.

‘How to String a Sentence Together’
The work came about after Lisa found a copy of The Penguin Book of Clichés, and began thinking about these curious little collections of words that we are so often told to avoid. She then began to notice that in nearly every conversation she encountered, clichés were used.
Beginning to “collect” these clichés as they appeared naturally in conversation, she started cherishing them – labouring over each letter as she stitched and then lovingly framed each phrase. Every day as more clichés popped up, she became ritualistic about writing them down immediately, before they were gone! Like rare, curious butterflies escaping our subconscious she catches them as they float from people's lips and preserves them.

Clichés are so easily used in conversation, sometimes though they are the only words that come to mind. For the verbally challenged of us, these words or phrases give us a voice and allow us to say – however clunkily – what we think and feel. These outdated sayings which out of context don't make sense are often perfect for summing up a feeling or situation. They also reflect people's personal history, subculture and family history. Lisa Bowen is now a proud user of these “hackneyed and trite expressions”. They have become familiar allies in the saga of social interaction. Maybe she needs to have a dictionary on her bedside table or maybe she has identified a truly intriguing aspect of the English language. Everybody has a saying that they remember their Mother using or a personal favourite that they catch themselves using. What is yours? … Read More