Unfamiliar Languages | Exhibition

Unfamiliar Languages
Solo Exhibition by Lisa MacNamara
September 4 – October 31, 2026 (Exhibition Extended to Saturday, November 7th!)
Back Room Gallery
Join the artist for an Open Artist Forum on October 24th, 1 – 4pm. More information

The abstracted human figure serves as the central focus of Lisa’s work, rendered as layered, molecular-like forms shaped by extensive research into the mind–body connection. Grounded in biology and psychology, the artist explores how the human body stores and reveals emotional history. The material palette in the exhibition consists of reclaimed fabrics, packing remnants, metal, and fiber materials. These everyday objects are transformed into vessel-like forms, symbolizing the physical manifestation of impactful life’s events and echoing the textures of scars and healing. This perspective became deeply personal following their brother’s prolonged coma and passing— a liminal state of a living body with an unreachable mind that profoundly reshaped the artist’s understanding of consciousness, trauma, and the body’s emotional imprint. Through detailed photography, in the video, an X-ray-like effect is introduced, shifting the work from mere decoration to a diagnostic tool that reinforces the idea of the body as a record-keeper. The creative process reflects the internal workings of being human. Through repetitive hand-sewing, each stitch that pierces the fiber’s surface repairs emotional fractures and articulates personal chronicles.  evokes the felted layers of skin and cellular structures. By translating flat materials into three-dimensional forms, the artist creates spaces to hold intangible emotional narratives, offering a subtle visual interpretation of vulnerability, resilience, and the human condition.

The Cloak Series explores the tension in outer layers—garments worn as protection or as burdens carrying personal and historical weight. Fabric patterns echo repetitive cycles, while rigid seams and stitching embody fixed habits that act as traps. The concept of wearing one’s heart on a sleeve makes vulnerability visible, and the choice of materials represents biological systems, rendering every scar and crease as a physical memory. Together, these elements allow the series to hold the paradox that individuals can be both broken and whole, hidden and exposed, integrating garments and biosystems as fragile, marked, adaptable, and capable of transformation. This exhibition maps the internal landscape, both physical and emotional, through a multisensory experience engaging sight, sound, touch, and the viewer’s visceral sense. At the heart of the experience is a collaborative video with Brazilian artist Peu Teles. Composed of detailed photography, the piece is layered with an auditory landscape: tactile sounds of paper mimic fracturing histories, while a rhythmic, pulsing breath signifies the emergence of new interpretations. Exploration extends to gallery walls through interactive thread designs, inviting physical connections to both the process and other participants. By weaving sensory elements together, the work evokes a somatic response, transforming the gallery into a surface for active dialogue on vulnerability, resilience, and the human condition.

About the Artist

Lisa MacNamara’s artistic journey began with inspiration from human stories and photojournalism in Life and Look magazines. She studied black-and-white photography through an apprenticeship, developing a strong foundation in traditional darkroom techniques and photographic processes before college where the focus was on biology, physical sciences, and psychology before moving to decorative arts, where she thrived in Denver, CO, her handcrafted finishes appeared in leading design centers, New York City’s A&D Building, and Florida’s DCOTA in Dania Beach. MacNamara received academic honors and scholarships in dual majors in painting and sculpture at Arizona State University, followed by studies in Civitella, Italy. She completed her MFA in Interdisciplinary Studio Arts at Florida Atlantic University, supported by a full teaching assistantship and academic grants. MacNamara uses large-scale mixed-media and sculptural installations, creating cellular imagery to capture life’s emotional imprints, exploring the mind-body connection. Her art is exhibited in the US and internationally and held in private collections. Her practice continues to honor individual narratives, revealing shared threads in the human condition.