Lis Pardoe: Here To Remind You

Froelick Gallery is excited to introduce Lis Pardoe and welcome her to the gallery with this solo exhibition of recent paintings.  

Lis writes about her work:  My oil paintings explore the space between inner and outer worlds, centering the figure, nature, and nostalgic surroundings—reflecting the impermanence of this life. As my work has developed, I’ve become ever more interested in narrating overlapping states and memories, as opposed to singular events, to communicate grief, presence, beauty, and longing. This feels true to how I experience living. Creating a sensory visual experience through paint helps me to experience the now, make peace with the past, and trust in the future.

I work primarily in oil paint using both direct and layered processes with glazing to establish depth and harmony. While my background in classical realism continues to inform the lifelike quality in my work, my recent practice has shifted to lean more heavily on intuition. Each decision and brushstroke determines the next, allowing the paintings to loosen their dependence on reference and subtly expand into surreal disruptions that emerge organically. I rely on light, focus, and color to guide my compositions, resulting in imagery that is full and precise. My paintings begin from observation, photographs, memories, dreams, or fully formed images that appear in my mind while moving through life’s mundane tasks. Living in a way that nurtures ritual is integral to my process and inspiration.

Women and bodies recur in my work as generational and psychological stand-ins, not as objects for consumption—something offering and worthy of care, and something I recognize and embody. By blending reality with the surrealism of interiority, I open a contemplative space to witness and feel. Ultimately, the paintings invite the viewer to pause, reflect, and commemorate the emotional rhythm of our daily life.

Lis Pardoe is a contemporary U.S. American artist whose oil paintings affirm a world worth holding onto. In response to the dissonance she experiences living in a fast-paced economy, her work narrates a return to awareness and ritual — an antidote to the anxiety arising from the rapid passing of time. Pardoe's paintings offer vibrant color, domestic detail, and multidimensional light, depicting introspective and layered scenes that portray a world she believes to exist within us. Working from photos, imagination, and life observation, Pardoe lets her daily walks and meditative insight guide her imagery. With women’s self-determination at heart, Pardoe uses the figure as a catalyst to speak to the space between ethereal beauty and bodily grief. From self-portraits to neighborhood bouquets, vibrant flames to deep waters, Pardoe's familiar scenes serve as a catalog that documents her inner world and daily life.

Pardoe was born in Sandy, Utah, and grew up along the Wasatch Front. Shortly after graduating from Viewmont High School in 2010, Pardoe began an apprenticeship at the Hein Atelier of Traditional Art, from which she graduated in late 2015. After spending her twenties in Salt Lake City, she and her spouse relocated to his hometown of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, México, before landing in Portland, Oregon, where she now lives and works. In 2021, she won the museum exhibition award in the 15th International ARC Salon, from which the Springville Museum of Art collected “Tell Me About Your Day” in 2022. She has exhibited at noteworthy institutions such as the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (2020) and Baton Rouge Gallery’s Surreal Salon (2025). She shows with galleries across the U.S.