Betsy Lohrer Hall
Betsy Lohrer Hall is a visual artist who makes process-oriented works on paper and installations. Her early training focused on traditional techniques and realism, and she painted murals for years. Her current work is usually abstract and experimental. It alludes to various concepts through metaphor and process. Themes include nature and the environment; the power of the collective; and socio-political circumstances. Her art is also informed by years of meditation practice and the study of Eastern philosophies. It is handmade, with evidence of time and presence revealed through the accumulation of marks, layers, and simple materials. The artist’s approach is seeded with the idea that small, humble gestures can affect great change.
Her approach with the paper works is a hybrid of drawing, painting, collage and printmaking. The results are a combination of careful marks and randomness that range from palm-sized to nearly 45 feet across. The large-scale paper-based works are often made from hundreds of pieces of cast-off paper, joined with thread. When making installations, she starts by considering context. She often responds to the site or current circumstances, and incorporates participation or performance.
As an extension of her art practice, she opened Flux Art Space in 2018. It’s a project space founded on the idea that art-making and direct experiences open new doors to understanding. Flux connects emerging and mid-career artists with each other and to the local and Los Angeles communities – and beyond. Betsy Lohrer Hall and Flux Art Space are featured in the Summer/Fall ’21 issue of Slow + Sustain Magazine: Create the Presence.
Betsy Lohrer Hall earned an MFA in drawing and painting from California State University, Fullerton and a BA in studio art, with a concentration in painting, from Colorado College. She also studied in London, Florence, and New York City. Her works have been exhibited in the U.S., Thailand, and Taiwan.
