Galerie Eva Presenhuber is pleased to present A Corridor, a Room, and Four Dens, its debut solo show with the Vienna-based artist Liesl Raff. For this occasion, the artist has chosen to reveal the gallery’s long-concealed window front, removing walls to invite natural light into a dialogue with the three distinct series’ of works.

Liesl Raff’s work is not spiritual, but deeply rooted in materiality and process. As a painter and sculptor, she explores the tension between soft, pliable materials and rigid, structural supports. The artificially pungent smell of latex transforms under her hands into an architectural, sculptural gesture. In her studio, Raff spends long hours layering liquid latex on the floor, pushing and pulling it into every contour of a three-by-four-meters asymmetrical frame that she forms by hand from unfired clay. Once the latex solidifies and the strong smell of ammonia dissipates, only natural pigments and materials remain. These finished, semi-translucent sheets, which resemble supple skin, are talcum powdered for durability before being incorporated into her metal frames.

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