Cities of You

System #10: Teelisira (Liis P)

20 x 16", Gouache, Colored Pencil, and Pen on Paper

If you stare at something long enough, it will change color. Teelisira is the underlying complexion of anything you can observe. However, the Teelisira in some objects are easier to observe than others. For example, a chair and the tree it was cut from have the same Teelisira, but it is much more difficult to observe the chair's Teelisira than the tree's. Also consider a photograph of that chair. Strangely, you can more quickly observe the chair's Teelisira through a photograph than with your bare eyes; but this is not the case with a photograph of a tree. Painters are particularly interested in understanding Teelisara. They practice layering their paint, sometimes ten, twenty, or thirty layers for a single painting. Each layer obscures or erases the previous layer, but does not eliminate the presence of that layer. It is in this way, Teelisira may be considered the underlying memory in any object- changing colors as you peel away the layers.