An exhibition’s material list is its subterranean vocabulary. Some lists are a little lackluster, quoting only “mixed media,” while others are obvious simply by looking at the work. In [ ], Lisa Radon’s exhibition currently at Artspeak, she lists materials like caramel stone, callianax biplicata, achillea millefolium seeds, rosmarius officinalis, Singing Rock climbing sling, and heron eyeball. It comes as no surprise then that the artist also practices as a poet. She sublimates most of the listed flora into coy assemblages like Flat Cairn, Pierced, and Sling, wherein you might find yourself alternating between the material list and the sculpture, asking yourself, “Where is it?” followed by, “Maybe that’s it.” Though the materials’ linguistic complexity conjures a plant’s primordial nomenclature, her sculptures are otherwise sparse and mild mannered. 
Lisa Radon, [ ], 2015, installation view
The aesthetically serious obelisk vibe of her white oak sculptures Square Bracket and Post Sentinel, as well as a single piece of white thread that hangs straight down from the ceiling entitled Sediment, could be asking too much for the suspension of more complex material appetites. However, works like Negative Ion Generation and Pocket Pocket, which is a recessed shrine with a puffy white frame containing a slab of caramel stone and tiny gold nugget, suggest fixtures for a future New Age (New-New Age?) rock garden. They articulate our delicate relationships with natural elements – relationships that we are always seeking naively to repair by trying to reconcile outside with inside.
While quotation marks often read metaphorically as sarcastic or condescending, Radon contends that square brackets exude a sensitive robustness. As stated in her exhibition text, “The square bracket as a butch version of the crone. As coastline. As standing stone. As sentinel.” Metaphors abound, yet the sculptures don’t settle comfortably for a merely poetic reading. The bashful presence of such verbosely presented materials clearly has emphasis on being read, and not necessarily seen, leaving the viewers with nothing short of the aura of a material tease.
Artspeak: http://artspeak.ca/
Lisa Radon: [ ] continues until October 31.
Steffanie Ling's essays, criticism, and art writing have been published alongside exhibitions, in print, and online in Canada and the United States. She is the editor of Bartleby Review, an occasional pamphlet of criticism and writing in Vancouver, and a curator at CSA Space. She is Akimblog’s Vancouver correspondent and can be followed on Twitter and Instagram @steffbao.
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Lisa Radon at Artspeak, Vancouver
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