Sheila Lichacz: Selected Works 1981-1989

Edited by Melinda Wortz
Published by © 1989 University Art Gallery, UC Irvine

Sheila Lichacz finds inspiration in her memories as a child searching for vessel and shell shards left by Indians on the beach.  Lichacz reconstructs the vessels and shells in her paintings in their entirety, using them as historical icons.  Her iconography pays homage to ancient cultures and symbolizes the body of women who play a role in the replenishment of humanity.  The artist varies the size, color, and composition of the vessels and shells within each painting to contrast and accentuate the historical icons she presents.  Lichacz manipulates perspective, pushing vessels further into the monumental shells in which they nestle and bringing vessels to the foreground removed from the security of said shells.  Several of her paintings are diptychs attesting to a fundamental connection to religious tradition in the production of her work.  Curated by Melinda Wortz.