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Photo by Jonathan Hordle/REX/Shutterstock .If you’re a creatively inclined woman, you have probably considered ways to create art in unconventional ways. You may have found, however, that it is difficult to stray from the canvas, the pottery wheel or the typewriter. Some artists, however, are breaking tradition to harness their creative energy with non-traditional mediums. Using electricity and bright colors, neon artists are able to seamlessly unite text and light.
Take a look at the following five women who have made names for themselves as neon artists.
Toronto-based artist Kelly Mark expresses her message through a combined style of words and colors. The text is often honest, weird and even a little jarring. Her most recent neon piece is titled “I Got Your Back.” The text states in orange neon, “I got your back / your fat ass / and anything else / you need me to get.”
Korean neon artist, Jung Lee, mixes nature, photography and neon into one artform. Her unique pieces place neon text in an almost desolate, natural environment. Language is used in both a traditional sense and a visual sense. Her series, “Aporia,” is inspired by Roland Barthes’ book, “A Lover’s Discourse.” It plays on the piece’s emptiness of love by illustrating the solitude of modern life.
Tracey Emin uses her life as inspiration for her art. The frankness and candid nature of her pieces pull from autobiographical elements. Her neon texts look almost as if they were handwritten, the most recent of her neon pieces being “I Fell in Love Here” from 2014. And though she works with neon, she’s not exclusive to this medium. Emin also paints, sculpts, creates installations and works with monoprint.
Born, raised and educated in Iran, Leila Pazooki’s art attempts to break borders. She currently resides in Berlin where she is studying for her Master’s degree at the Berlin University of Arts. Pazooki’s art plays with preset cultural lines and taboos. Her most recent full-neon exhibit from 2013 is titled “Caligraffiti: 1984-2013.” Along with using neon, she also designs and stitches embroidery.
Yael Bartana’s multi-media work tackles politics of the past and of identity. According to her website, her art’s starting point “is the national consciousness propagated by her native country, Israel.” She explores the idea that Israel has been established through cultural and social habits. One of her most recent neon works is titled “And Europe Will be Stunned.” The text is in bright red neon and references Bartana’s film trilogy of the same title.
