Liz McCrystal

Me, We, 2021

“There are some people who would never have fallen in love, if they had not heard there was such a thing”

– François de La Rochefoucauld

Me, We is a mixed media exhibition that uses roadwork and construction aesthetics to analyse the concept of romantic love. A mix of photo, text, ceramic and everyday objects are deployed resulting in a tongue-in-cheek expression of contemporary and historic ideas and ideals around romantic love. For some, the quality of our romantic relationships underpin the qualities of our overall lives, making the weight of finding romantic love one of the most important things in an individual’s life. Yet, unlike roadwork navigations, we are left in relative isolation, traversing this arena with few tools and an out-of-date road map.

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Me, We

13 - 21 November, 2021

Narooma Gallery; 92a Campbell Street, Narooma NSW 2546

Exhibition Catalogue

Exhibition Zine

A limited edition of 40, handmade zines feature images of this work in its first installed iteration. Inspired by the exhibition themes, the zine also features a written piece by artist, Jennifer Hawkins.

$10 (incl. postage)

(I’m) Wrapped (Up) In You, 2018

Exploring the fundamental and insidious traits of our throwaway society, (I’m) Wrapped (Up) In You playfully questions the interplay between consumerism, overconsumption, socioeconomic divisions and beauty standards. This exhibition looks at the way our society currently consumes products and precious commodities, by deciphering existing trends around fresh food, plastic packaging and online socialising. The results are mixed media artworks that repackage these trends in honest and absurd ways, while highlighting our lifestyles of convenience and compliance. This exhibition gives no answers, but rather hopes to engage thoughtful introspection about our common place practices and obligations as consumers, while also highlighting the accountability of business and government.

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(I’m) Wrapped (Up) In You

3 - 27 May, 2018

PhotoAccess; Manuka Arts Centre Corner Manuka Circle & New South Wales Cres, Griffith ACT

Exhibition Catalogue

Exhibition review

119 Stages of Grief, 2016

119 stages of grief is a work that was developed during the research stage of an ongoing body of work titled, Slow Forgetting, which centers on the death of the artists close friend. This work was made by photocopying an image of the artist that was taken by her deceased friend. The first image produced the second, then the third produced the forth, and so on. By repeating this process each image began to slightly distort from the original. The photocopier also began to shift the image with every produced photocopy, moving it off the page. This process was repeated until all traces of the original portrait disappeared, which happened after 119 pages of photocopying. The slow deterioration of the portrait is used to explore the personal grieving period experienced by the artists.

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The Leftovers

2 - 25 June, 2016

Verge Gallery: Jane Foss Russell Plaza, City Rd, Sydney NSW 2050

Benjamin Chadbond (SYD), Young Sun Han (US), Katrin Koenning (MELB), Jennifer Loeber (US), Elizabeth McCrystal (SYD), Nina Roeder (GER), Marie Shannon (NZ), Salote Tawale (SYD)

Curated by Talia Smith, The Leftovers is a photographic and video-based exhibition featuring artists from Australia, New Zealand, America and Germany. The delicate physical or psychological nature of the passing of something or someone is explored through the imagery of each artists' work. The exhibition aims to question memories and histories that we rebuild after something has passed, the way we are left behind to somehow carry on. The works in the show are sensitive yet powerful in their honesty, each work trying to keep the connection between an event or a person, trying to remember, honour and make sense of what happened.

Darkroom, 2014

Darkroom is a mixed media collaboration with artist Johnny Merkouris. The artists explore concepts of Jean Paul Sartre theories on existence by analysing the role of light and the creation of a photograph by reconstructing elements of a photographic darkroom to symbolically explore ideas of birth, life and death. 

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Darkroom

30 May – 4 June, 2014

107 Projects: 107 Redfern Street, Redfern 2016

1 Message Received, 2013

1 message received explores an anonymous individual through their interactions with three people via text messages. The work shows one-side conversations in a horizontal, timeline display. Each person is designated a row which contains a single text message within a white frame. Spanning over a four year period, the frames are ordered by date and time. This work gives the audience an almost voyeuristic view into the anonymous individual’s personal life. The audience is also tasked with completing these one sided conversations by assuming what the anonymous figure replies might have been or by filling in the narrative with their own experiences.

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Human Taxonomies

10 – 15 December, 2013

Bondi Pavilion Gallery: Queen Elizabeth Dr, Bondi Beach NSW 2026

Matt James, Elizabeth McCrystal, Petra O'Halloran, Benjamin Stone-Herbert, Natasha Anne Foster, Louise McFadden, Zak Kaczmarek, Nick Greenwich, Amanda Jane Newing

Curated by Zak Kaczmarek, Human Taxonomies is an exhibition that investigates how humans behave and relate. The collection of works becomes a scientific study that investigates time, memory and failure. The artists use photography and mixed media to explore ideas of perception of the self, relationships, and alienation.