LRL Concepts

Lourdes is a NY based artist. She doesn't limit her work to traditional media, and is always looking for new vehicles of expression. Her work is influenced by that of contemporary painters, musicians and choreographers as she believes that art forms don't live in isolation from each other. She often  combines performance based arts with visual arts to recreate that sense of connectivity.

Lourdes grew up in Puerto Rico, a land of many colors. From an early age she showed interest in art in different forms. She would spend time drawing and writing about the world around her. Early on the rhythms of Puerto Rico were evident in her work: bomba, plena, salsa, the sounds of the coquí in her backyard, or roosters waking her up early in the morning. She used the many vibrant colors and contours of her island to create her own work: mountains that looked like the breasts of a maiden, and mountain ranges that resembled a sleeping giant; the crisp morning air of the country side, and the salty flavor of the coastal breeze. All of these things shaped her childhood and young adulthood as well as her artwork.

At the age of 21 Lourdes moved to New York City. The foreign weather, fast pace and incessant sound of the city were at first a shock to her.  Her first series, Out of the Shadows features many of the symbols that were so familiar to her growing up interlaced with the feelings of shock and the unknown that were significant in adapting to her new life in a foreign city. In this work she expressed the changes and challenges of being a woman in two different societies.

As time went by Lourdes noticed that, no matter where people came from, the experience of being human was similar for everyone. Which led to her second, and more recent, series titled Voices. Here she used rich color, not unlike the ones she was enveloped in as a child, to depict people’s psyches, and the experience of growing up in a fractured society. Voices, not only represented this which she had seen, but the experience of growing up and relearning life as an independent woman:  “Only by acknowledging and honoring each part of us can we find the freedom to live life at its fullest.”

Lourdes is currently working on her third series in which she uses digital and traditional collage techniques.

Donna Diamond is a NY based award winning illustrator and artist. She graduated from LaGuardia High School and received a degree in sculpture from the Boston Universty School of Art. She has illustrated many children's and young readers' books, including The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, Riches by Esther Hautzig, and The Day of the Unicorn by Mollie Hunter. Recently she finished her own original story in a wordless children's book, titled The Shadow, to be released by Candlewick on July 13, 2010. She often works with different media, using digital techniques in her painting. You can find out more about her at http://TheArtofDonnaDiamond.com.

Elizabeth Matheson is a NY based artist. She received a degree in Fine Arts from SUNY Purchase and was a member of the Art Students League of New York, where she also studied art. Her work has been exhibited in various galleries, including the SUNY Purchase Gallery, The Beacon Museum, and she was an active member of the JENTH Gallery. She prefers working with three dimensional materials such as rocks, stones, and clay as a way to connect to the healing energies of the Earth. She believes in the curative power of art: "Art has its own life. Meeting one's self in that state of being as an artist provides a glimpse into infinity." Currently Matheson teaches art to children and uses art's healing power within the energetic process.