The Language of Colour: A Conversation with Liz West
Through the powerful and emotional language of colour, Liz West creates immersive installations that engage the senses and invite personal responses. Her work is built on years of research into colour theory, perception, and the science of light, blending both intuitive artistry and deep knowledge. By exploring scale and space, she designs environments that are personal and universal, where colour becomes a shared yet deeply individual experience.
In the following conversation, she shares more about the ideas, experiences, and motivations that shape her work.
Liz West
Photo by Jonty Wilde
1) Your work is full of bold, vibrant colours. How do you take individual perception into account when designing your installations?
For many years, I have observed people’s interactions with my artwork, especially within my immersive pieces. If not in person, then I am always searching out people’s feedback via talking, writing or on social media. I have also been researching colour perception, colour theory and the science of light for over 20 years, which has led me to conceptualise and create the artwork I have made to date.
In an essay about my practice, writer Jack Welsh observed the following; “Colour, as Josef Albers astutely observed, ‘deceives continually (1)’. As I last observed on a laborious train journey, the seat before me, I would argue, is a faded medium vermillion red, in line with the train operator’s corporate identity. However the man adjacent to me, who appears lost in a daydream, may insist that the seat is in fact, cadmium orange. Who is right? Clearly, this anecdote is rooted in Albers’ assertion that colour evokes innumerable readings. Ultimately, our interaction with colour is a subjective experience, one that is both perceptive and cognitive.” – Jack Welsh, extract from ‘SCHAUEN – The work of Liz West’ (2013)
2) Your work isn’t just about colour, it also plays with size and space. How do you decide on the right scale for each piece? Does changing the size ever shift its emotional or psychological impact?
One of the first things I do when working on a new piece is make a site visit, this equips me with an idea of the space (and surroundings) the artwork will finally inhabit. The scale and size of the work is often dictated by the surroundings of the work, I take information from the site and incorporate it into the design. I do this along with a sense of intuition.
Within my work, I think about the appropriate colour, size and shape to suit the environment. For example; just because a work is in a small gallery situation, doesn’t mean the work should be small - it could be immersive and fill every inch of the space, or even spill out through the windows and saturate the outside too. If done correctly, then the emotional or psychological response from a visitor should be equally as powerful and nuanced no matter what the scale.
Liz West
Concertina (Neon mini series), 2024
3) When developing ideas, do you work with a team or shape the vision on your own?
I work in many different ways, depending on what the artwork and idea is. Recently I have been creating a new series of paper works in my studio, which I have been making happily alone and by harnessing my own skills.
With larger (often public realm or structural) artworks I need a team to help me. In this instance I begin by making drawings or scale models of how I envision the artwork to be, as well as having an idea of the materials that I would like to use. Then I have conversations with technicians, fabricators, engineers (sometimes art consultants, curators, architects and lighting manufacturers) about if my ideas are even possible. Together, we ‘work up’ my initial idea into a full fledged detail design that is both practical, within budget, and aesthetically similar - without too much compromise on the form, shape or concept.
Liz West
An Additive Mix, 2015 at National Media