Lisa Beard: UnOccupied

As an artist who is drawn to exploration and storytelling, many of the places Lisa Beard has visited have been messy and oftentimes cluttered. According to Beard, "Although sifting through it can be interesting and reveal much, it can also be quite overwhelming in a sort of visual flooding."

Her series, UnOccupied, is a body of work that explores places left behind. The spaces shown were photographed exactly as found. The minimalist style allows the essence of what once was, to fuse with each viewer’s experience in order to form an individualized story. It also provides a nice break from the visual saturation we constantly face in today's environment.

"In a complicated world,” Beard states, “it’s nice to know that much is revealed through simplicity."

Lisa Beard is a fine art photographer who also enjoys creating mixed media work and writing.The images in this exhibition and the stories behind them will be included in  Beard’s upcoming book, Abandoned Illinois, which is scheduled to be published in December of 2018.