Having moved around frequently growing up, I use the suburban home – like those reminiscent of my childhood – as an idealistic icon of the American Dream. By simplifying the structure of a house to a basic form, I explore the traditional ideas we attach to home ownership as well as what these buildings evoke for us: personal goals, economic issues, urban planning, and environmental concerns. I work in a variety of artistic media to investigate the love-hate relationship I have with these houses and the sprawling communities they create.

Lisa Dahl is a mixed-media artist who works in painting, photography, installation and video. She received her BA from Bowdoin College, and MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Her work has been exhibited at The Jersey City Museum, NJ; Cheryl McGinnis Gallery, NYC; Nurture Art, Brooklyn, NY; PS122, NYC; The Parrish Art Museum, Southhampton, NY; Brooklyn Arts Council Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; The DIVA Art Fair, NYC; and the Hunterdon Museum, Clinton, NJ. Dahl has been awarded residencies and grants by The MacDowell Colony; the Bronx Museum’s Artist in the Marketplace program, PS122, and the Council on the Arts and Humanities for Staten Island (COAHSI). Dahl was born in Minnesota, and lives and works in New York City.

The Lawn, 2007
Video (DVD)
1:00 minute reel
Edition of 5
Courtesy of the artist

http://www.lisadahlstudio.com/