UNDER MY ALIAS 'AZIL RESORT',
I CREATE ACCESSIBLE SCULPTURES, INCLUDING FUNCTIONAL PIECES THAT CAN FIND THEIR PLACE IN ANY LIVING ROOM. WHILE MY WORK AS LIZA HOUBEN FOCUSES ON LARGE-SCALE INSTALLATIONS, AZIL RESORT BRINGS MY ARTISTIC VISION INTO YOUR LIVING ROOM.
AZIL RESORT CREATES CONTEMPORARY SCULPTURES OUT OF CLAY. EACH SCULPTURE MUTATES AND EVOLVES DURING THE BUILDING PROCESS INTO A UNIQUE FORM. THEY ARE BOTH ORNAMENTAL AND UTILITARIAN IN THEIR TIMELESSNESS.
WEBSHOP:
IN MY WEBSHOP, YOU'LL DISCOVER MY HANDCRAFTED CERAMIC SCULPTURES AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE. PLEASE NOTE THAT AZIL RESORT IS A ONE-WOMAN BUSINESS AND THE PROCESS OF CLAY IS LONG & FRAGILE. THE PIECES ARE LIMITED AND THEREFORE UNIQUE. EACH PIECE IS HAND-BUILT AND DIFFERS SLIGHTLY FROM THE PHOTOS.
MUSEUM:
EXPLORE MY LARGER INTERDISCIPLINARY SCULPTURAL WORKS IN THE MUSEUM GALLERY. THIS SECTION OFFERS INSIGHT INTO MY PRACTICE AS A VISUAL ARTIST, WHERE EACH WORK REPRESENTS A NEW MUTATION IN AN ONGOING EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS.
M00D:
A VISUAL DIARY—A COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY, INSPIRATION, PROCESS, AND TEXT. THIS SPACE OFFERS A GLIMPSE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND THEMES THAT SHAPE LIZA HOUBEN & AZIL RESORT. FROM STUDIO MOMENTS TO FOUND OBJECTS, FROM SKETCHES TO WRITINGS, IT REFLECTS THE INTUITIVE FLOW BEHIND EACH PIECE.
ARTIST BIO - LIZA HOUBEN
MY WORK ALWAYS BEGINS WITH SCULPTURE, THE PRESERVATION OF STORIES IN MATTER.
AS A VISUAL ARTIST WHO GRADUATED FROM THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ART IN THE HAGUE (2020), I CREATE LARGE-SCALE INTERACTIVE SCULPTURE INSTALLATIONS WHERE THE GRADUAL, SYMBIOTIC PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION TAKES CENTER STAGE. MY WORK FOCUSES ON BIOLOGICAL LIFE CYCLES, REPRODUCTION, AND SPECULATIVE SCIENCE FICTION WITH A DISTINCT FEMINIST APPROACH.
THIS EXPLORATION OF TRANSFORMATION WAS CENTRAL IN LAKE (2020), LATER EVOLVING INTO THE VIBRANT LAKE (2021). IN THIS HYBRID PERFORMANCE INSTALLATION, I BROUGHT TOGETHER TIME, PHENOLOGICAL CYCLES, AND FLUIDITY, ALLOWING SCULPTURES, PERFORMERS, AND AUDIENCES TO TRAVEL COLLECTIVELY THROUGH SHIFTING SEASONS. THE WORK WAS PRESENTED IN DIFFERENT FORMS, FROM EXHIBITION (KABK, HET HEM) TO THEATER (BRAKKE GROND, HOLLAND FESTIVAL), VIDEO INSTALLATION (MELKWEG EXPO), AND FILM (NPO CULTUUR).
CONTINUING THIS DIALOGUE BETWEEN MATERIAL AND TRANSFORMATION, I DEVELOPED HAUMEA (2022), A SCULPTURE CREATED AT MAKE EINDHOVEN. AT THE HEART OF THE INSTALLATION BLOSSOM, I PRESENTED AN ABSTRACTED WOMB, AN ODE TO FERTILITY THAT EXPANDED INTO A LANDSCAPE. SHOWN LATER AT TWEE TURVEN HOOG FESTIVAL FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES, THIS WORK EMPHASIZED MY ONGOING TENSION BETWEEN ORGANIC AND INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS, A CONTRAST THAT RECURS THROUGHOUT MY PRACTICE.
IN 2023, I MOVED MY SCULPTURAL LANGUAGE INTO THE LANDSCAPE WITH ROCKY, MY FIRST LAND ART SCULPTURE, CREATED AT ALMEERDERSTRAND DURING MY RESIDENCY AT STRANDLAB. THIS TWELVE-METER-LONG ORGANIC FORM, SCULPTED BY HAND FROM CEMENT, SANDBAGS, AND WOOD, WAS SURROUNDED BY A SELF-DESIGNED AND EXCAVATED POND FILLED WITH LOCAL AQUATIC PLANTS. BLURRING THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE, THE WORK BECAME A LIVING ORGANISM, FURTHER ANIMATED IN A PERFORMANCE AND DANCE FILM INSPIRED BY COURTSHIP AND MATING RITUALS.
THIS INTEREST IN CONTINUOUS TRANSFORMATION IS ALSO AT THE CORE OF RHEA, MY SCULPTURAL INSTALLATION FOR ART ROTTERDAM 2025. IN A CORTEN STEEL BASIN STANDS A THREE-METER-HIGH SCULPTURE OF A WOMAN CARRYING A SLEEPING BABY. MADE OF FIRED CLAY PIECES, THE FORM IS PARTIALLY COVERED IN WET CLAY. A PUMP SYSTEM CIRCULATES CLAY SLIP OVER THE FIGURE, GRADUALLY ERODING THE OUTER LAYER AND REVEALING THE FIRED SCULPTURE BENEATH. RETURNING TO CLAY AS A CENTRAL MATERIAL, I EMPHASIZE ITS ABILITY TO SHIFT AND DECAY, FREEZING TIME AND ERODING IT SIMULTANEOUSLY.
THE MOTHER FIGURE EMBODIES BOTH CARE AND THE INEVITABILITY OF LETTING GO. JUST AS A CHILD EVENTUALLY STANDS ON ITS OWN, THE SCULPTURE SHEDS ITS LAYERS, EXPOSING WHAT REMAINS. THROUGH THIS ONGOING CHANGE, RHEA BECOMES A MEDITATION ON IMPERMANENCE, MEMORY, AND LOVE.