Liliana Diane Lakich (b. June 4, 1944) is an American artist best known for her work in neon sculpture. Her sculptures have been included in major publications on contemporary sculpture, neon sculpture and feminist art including Signs,[1] and in many private and corporate collections.[2] She has had solo shows in Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles.[2]
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Growing up as a military brat, Lakich moved around a lot — she attended fifth grade at six different schools — and was frequently taken on road trips where she was exposed to roadside neon signs.[3]
My family was into road trips…[o]ur idea of recreation was to get in the car and drive on a weekend. So we would pick the motel by which one had the best neon sign.
She attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in New York, and then went on to attend the London Film School in England. She returned to Pratt and earned a Bachelor Fine Arts degree in 1967. While at Pratt she created her first light sculpture. After convincing a local sign company to teach her, she went on to incorporate neon into her work.
Lakich settled in Los Angeles in 1968 and began exhibiting neon sculpture in 1973 at Gallery 707 on La Cienega Blvd. Her first solo exhibition, at Womanspace in the Woman's Building in 1974, garnered a review in Artforum magazine by Peter Plagens where he commented "…the whole show is solid, however, I doubt whether Lakich will confine her development to static, confined neon, if for no other reason than the recent liberation of electric lights through process, video, and performance art." But Lakich did not heed the critic's advice. She continued to work in neon sculpture and recently completed a 114-ft. long public art commission for the Van Nuys FlyAway at 7610 Woodley Ave. in Van Nuys.
From 1982, Lakich founded and served as first director for the Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles, remaining there until 1999. [4][5]