Lisette de Greeuw her work consists of series, often lasting several years and existing simultaneously. They develop fluidly, either from an ongoing series or from an impression, something that stays with me. Her methods overlap between series, using repetition, time, and the removal of material to create material. Systems and their 'mistakes' often play a role.

 

Currently, Lisette de Greeuw is working on two series. The first series stems from noticing how living in Belgium has reshaped her language.  Her sentence construction has shifted, yet she can't pinpoint exactly how. In her second language, she often lose subtle nuances by simplifying them. The transition between textile and language is central in her work. Etymologically, 'textile' and 'text' both derive from the Latin texere, meaning to weave, to combine, to construct. This led her to create schmatic drawings based on cross-stitch patterns, where each sign represents a crossstitch in a specific color. These were initially arranged at random, forming images without knowing what they would become. She treated the signs as a language: a rule-based system with meanings we collectively define. By translating schematic drawings into other forms (numbers, computer symbols, hand embroidery, machine work, tiles, enlargements), she explores and deepens her understanding of this constructed language. This ongoing process constantly questions: does language create meaning, does meaning create language?

 

The second series began with seeing these schematic drawings  not as finishd works but as tools. This led to the idea of developing drawing materials as work in themselves. The first piec in this context is based on the image of a moldy tangerine, it's bright orange surface slowly being overtaken by mold. The skin-like texture that slowly disappears, replaced by a hairy white-green-grayish structure. A mold that slowly makes what was once a tangerine vanish and take over. Through this lens she explores transformation and decay. When does a tangerine stop being a tangerine, how is a tangerine defined, and when does this definition come to an end?