Lisa Rommé V. 2

Lisa Rommé (Shtormit) is an olfactory installation and performance artist as well as a curator who has participated in over 150 exhibitions to date. She has exhibited extensively in Moscow and across Europe in Paris, London, Salzburg, Treviso, and Varna. Recent solo exhibitions include features at L'atelier Byzance in Paris, Molecula Gallery, State Literature Museum, and Gallery Na Kashirke in Moscow. Her most recent artist residencies include a 6 month stay at 59 Rivoli in Paris, the Sculpture Quadrennial in Riga, Latvia, Art Residence Normandy in Yvetot, France, ACME residency in London, and Cité internationale des arts in Paris. Publications include various interviews and biographical features by independent publishers in Europe and a critical essay by Electromuseum, a Moscow gallery specializing in media art.

The installations and performances of Lisa Rommé deal with concepts such as how history relates to contemporary times and institutional criticism. She will sometimes craft olfactory installations which appear similar to an object, such as a bar of soap, only for the viewer to be informed the objects are in fact sculptural installations which emanate scents. Some of her most impressive works contain shrines to historical or mythological entities such as ancient titans. She also constructs shrines to concepts such as theological traditions of portraying relics containing the remains of saints. In such a particular instance, ideas of losing one’s teeth are suggested and implemented. 

Associating scents with concepts by constructing scented shrines to gods and titans such as Saturn and Kronos become further explored in more performative pieces containing tarot cards and gems. In these performances, Lisa presents herself as a mystic in robes revealing secrets about history and such a relation to contemporary identity. She implores the viewer throughout her scented olfactory installations to reflect on concepts which not only connect us to the past but also criticize the institutions who dish out criticism on historical and cultural concepts. Throughout her work, Lisa Rommé questions the validity of institutional structures and how such infrastructure reflects on concepts of personal identity such as desolation, materialism, and etymology and universal impulses reflecting death, envy, love, and miracles.

No Sense (pictured above) depicts an integration of a performance with an olfactory installation. Within her hands, Lisa holds a marble or gem-like entity which emanates a scent. Dressed in robes and conveying the object with folds of satin reveals a mysterious relic brought forth by a contemporary ‘shaman’ or mystic. 

Lisa Rommé can be described as a complex artist who uses installation and performance to question institutional systems and have the viewer reflect on how the past influences contemporary times. From mythology to historical references, she consistently uses symbolism to reveal mystical qualities about connecting with our ancestors. Each piece has an extensive narrative to unfold and specific concepts regarding elements of surprise which awaits each viewer to discover the scent as well as connections to emotional impulses and natural elements. Lisa Rommé reveals a sustained practice contemplating on the mystery and wonder of how objects, shrines, and performative actions communicate deeper connections and concepts towards our collective as well as individual psyche.

https://www.shtormit.fr