GRAPHIC WORKS

Lye’s graphic works reveal a serious interest in the arts of Maori, Australian Aboriginal, and other Oceanic and African cultures.  So-called “primitive” art was to have the most enduring influence on his work, and like many mid-20th century artists, Lye suspected that an abstract art based on intuition and feeling could reveal elements of the subconscious, or what he termed the “Old Brain.”  In his early sketches, Lye would sometimes attempt to capture the motion of an object, rather than an external appearance. Lye’s photographic works follow the direct approach of his films, and are made without a camera.  Many of the subjects for his photograms were well-known creative individuals, Le Corbusier, Hans Richter and Georgia O’Keefe among them.