Entering Liz Scheer’s solo exhibition, Nocturama, immerses the viewer in a two-floor experience featuring over 50 intricate works. Rather than relying on grand scale to captivate, Scheer’s pieces invite the viewer to slow down and delve into the layers of narrative woven into each composition.

At first glance, the artist's paintings appear playful and light-hearted, filled with vibrant colors and a range of textures from glitter to animal fur. However, Scheer’s world has an undercurrent that tempers its initial cheer, beckoning viewers to look beyond the surface as a more haunting energy subtly emerges. 

Each painting is paired with text that isn’t so much an explanation as an extension of the artwork itself. These cryptic, open-ended, poetic statements urge us to pause again, offering clues without closure. They present like lonely answers to an ad-lib. Rather than a paragraph to nestle within, the ambiguous text is forced to exist alongside a stark visual image. 

Each piece in Nocturama stands as its own world, with narratives open to personal interpretation. The beauty lies in the ambiguity—no single, “correct” interpretation exists. Scheer’s truth remains her own, layered within the work and inaccessible without unraveling it entirely. Instead, we bring our own truths to the surface, projecting our interpretations onto the paintings’ vibrant textures.

Scheer invites us to release the urge to solve the work and instead embrace the unknown. We’re free to derive meaning as we please, or simply wander from piece to piece, savoring the infinite possibilities each painting holds. To me, this open-ended engagement is far more satisfying, even when a work’s dark humor might question my own sanity. The result is an experience of wonder that lingers long after leaving the gallery.