The Secret Life of Figurines:
Artist Liliana Porter
by Ross Rice
I can’t help giggling.
A wind-up penguin staggers into the screen from the upper left corner, against a solid white background. It wobbles slightly, then gets off-kilter, pitching forward and elegantly somersaulting into a prone face-up position, balefully staring at the camera before the cut. It’s a funny Chaplainesque moment, where a human character has been assigned to a mechanical object, a real toy, not an animation. And I’m giggling . . . can’t help it.
Liliana Porter sits nearby smiling. She’s one of those people who smiles with her whole face, and laughs with her whole body, instantly making you feel comfortable in her presence. She’s letting me know: it’s OK to laugh, I do it all the time . . . it’s a perfectly appropriate response to the work. Thank goodness.
On a day that can’t make up its mind to shine or rain, Liliana Porter greets me at her red studio/barn just outside of Rhinebeck, a space she shares with fellow artist Ana Tiscornia: plenty of room, well-lit, with ample table surfaces and lighting for projects in progress. Liliana couldn’t be a more gracious hostess, self-deprecating and disarmingly charming. And looking around the remodeled barn, it’s easy to see why she is an internationally famous artist, with her works shown in Houston, Chicago, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Madrid, Rome, Sao Paolo and her native Buenos Aires. Her and Ana’s workspace looks like a fun place to play, neatly organized, with rolling tables and all manner of media: pencils, paint, drawing tools, and sundry objects.
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