Larisse Hall enjoys seeing her works change as the light in a room changes such as (left) Hope will Prevail (2024), oil on linen with 12V LED lighting, and Surprise (2021), oil on cotton with LED lighting. Photos: Gregor Richardson To artist Larisse Hall, light and time are the crux of her work, which was originally inspired by the tough time her children had coming into the world. Rebecca Fox reports.
Larisse Hall believes if she can think it in her head, she can make it happen. It might take time, finding the right people and perseverance, but Hall says her light-infused works are the proof the approach works. A self-taught painter, she started out painting mixed-media landscapes, which sold well, but did not "speak" to her.
It was not until she painted a portrait of her son holding her daughter, at just 2 days old, after the family had been told she likely had brain damage from being deprived of oxygen at birth, that she had her "lightbulb" moment. "When my son was born, prem by seven weeks, he had issues with his lungs, and my daughter was born with no oxygen. So for 11 minutes, she was considered not living.
" She realised it fed back to why she had always gravitated towards artwork of any type of the Madonna and Child whenever she saw it around the world. "I just think it’s a beautiful artwork — it has always spoken to me. So I suppose this is like my reinterpretation of it.
" Now Hall knew what she wanted to do, she set about making it happen. "Phases have developed .
