Lisa Scadron

About the Process

Making art allows me the freedom to not be cerebral. It is about the sensual and simple pleasure of finding out what materials can do and how I can shape them into something beautiful. There is an alchemy that happens if one can only get out of the way and go with the flow of the moment; that magic has its own time and rhythm and requires only the practitioner's patience, willingness to let go of preconceived images and readiness to improvise. Exploring materials in service of beauty, I configure multiple layers of textures, vivid colors, and iridescent materials into abstract paintings that are at once ethereal and earthy, expressing my visceral connection to the landscapes of the Southwest and the scapes in my mind. A work of art is its own world—invoking spaces of possibility. Most of my prints originate from photographs of sections of my paintings that I then digitally transform—they are not reproductions of my paintings, but original digital art printed on aluminum. To create my paintings, I use acrylic paints, metallic leaf and a range of mixed media, sometimes applying as many as ten layers on a canvas or panel and then excavating into those layers with palette knives, old kitchen utensils and other tools. Playing with the materials allows me to be present in the moment of making. I use that space to explore "mistakes" and "tangents," navigating the unknown territory of a work in progress. If I am patient enough to trust my creative process, beauty coalesces from the layers of media.