Liz Augustine's work today has no need to reflect a false, charming narrative of life that comes from pure imagination. She challenges us to see life as it is for many women in all its complexities. Her subject matter reflects the yin and yang of human experience, particularly as it impacts females and their sexuality. She does not skip lightly over the dark side of human experience, but invites us to pause, observe, acknowledge, and, yes, even embrace affective experiences of fear, confusion, powerlessness, and pain. She juxtaposes line, shape, colors, and textures in ways that at first glance are disharmonious and occasionally disturbing. Multiple planes collide in impossible ways. Facial features and relationships of figures are obscured. We find our eyes dancing across the canvas absorbing some images that we may not want to see, but we cannot ignore. We are invited to go deeper and reflect upon what is it about this image in its oddity that speaks to me? Why is it that in this brokenness I am finding something very appealing and maybe even relatable? We linger before these paintings giving our minds and hearts time to integrate our thoughts and feelings about them. We find it hard to walk away, as they call us to go deeper and deeper. Even when we do walk away, we feel a gravitational pull to come back, as we realize we have much, much more to extract from these images.
Liz Augustine’s work is a gift – a gift that rips off the cover of many hidden “Me, Too” histories that women are now acknowledging and owning. These works are courageous, as they reflect the raw truth of feminine trauma, taking the viewer on a journey from interior and exterior pain starting in childhood to the emergence of hard-earned hope and resilience in adulthood.
Yet they also make clear that the journey of healing is not yet finished as women continue to explore the meaning of victimization while pursing wholeness. Liz Augustine’s work is a rallying cry for women to join forces in their common experience and for men to join the conversation so all can work together in honesty to transform our world into the safe and respectful place everyone deserves.
Anita Martineau, LCSW
December 29, 2019
Liz Augustine’s work is a gift – a gift that rips off the cover of many hidden “Me, Too” histories that women are now acknowledging and owning. These works are courageous, as they reflect the raw truth of feminine trauma, taking the viewer on a journey from interior and exterior pain starting in childhood to the emergence of hard-earned hope and resilience in adulthood.
Yet they also make clear that the journey of healing is not yet finished as women continue to explore the meaning of victimization while pursing wholeness. Liz Augustine’s work is a rallying cry for women to join forces in their common experience and for men to join the conversation so all can work together in honesty to transform our world into the safe and respectful place everyone deserves.
Anita Martineau, LCSW
December 29, 2019
Liz Augustine’s art exhibit at Widener University’s School of Law in Harrisburg during the months of March, April and May of 2019 was spellbinding, disturbing and uplifting – all at the same time. This unique artist held my attention with images that portray the pathos and suffering of human existence. But the works were also uplifting in their ability to rise above trauma to a place of acceptance; to express with acrylic what we all know or fear. I found a sense of community and commonality with the artist as well as her subjects.
The use of the color red in many of Ms. Augustine’s paintings pulled in the viewer’s gaze and gave life to the works. The piece “From Here” aptly depicts indecision through the use of warm colors in sharp contrast to much of the exhibit’s blacks and reds.
Liz Augustine’s style is distinct and her works are engaging, asking the viewer to create a narrative that may or may not reflect the artist’s own story. There can be no one correct interpretation as these works ask questions and leave us to our own personal interpretations, thereby fulfilling the call of fine art.
Kathleen Schneider, Musician
July 2019
The use of the color red in many of Ms. Augustine’s paintings pulled in the viewer’s gaze and gave life to the works. The piece “From Here” aptly depicts indecision through the use of warm colors in sharp contrast to much of the exhibit’s blacks and reds.
Liz Augustine’s style is distinct and her works are engaging, asking the viewer to create a narrative that may or may not reflect the artist’s own story. There can be no one correct interpretation as these works ask questions and leave us to our own personal interpretations, thereby fulfilling the call of fine art.
Kathleen Schneider, Musician
July 2019