Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Alonzo

Lisa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

As a kid I was always artistic. I watched a ton of Bob Ross and my family owned a Christmas tree farm, so I had lots of practice painting happy little trees. I painted anything I could get my hands on, furniture, pottery, etc. Puffy paint was most exciting to me and I always had projects scattered across any flat surface of my bedroom as they slowly dried.
As much as I loved making art, I never considered it an option as a profession. So off I went to college to study interior design. I found it to be tedious. What I really wanted to do was paint. I dropped out and went to art school in San Francisco. It was there that I discovered my technique using pastry tips- I could never imagine that I’d still be exploring it 15 years later.

After I graduated I slowly began showing in small galleries around the city, and connected with Marina Cain, a gallery that brought my work to Aqua Art Fair in Miami during Basel. This was the opportunity that changed my trajectory. I traveled, wide-eyed, to Miami and got a glimpse of the contemporary art scene, and was connected with the most wonderful collector who has introduced me to numerous other galleries and collectors. Despite my early success, my career has had ups and downs. This is a challenging business, but I enjoy being challenged. And beyond that it is so fulfilling; there is nothing I’d rather be doing. I’ve been able to keep evolving and making work and believe my work is stronger than ever.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

As I mentioned, there have been many ups and downs. Something I’ve struggled with is the desire to understand the connection of strong sales to the strength of the work. Do sales (or lack thereof) reflect my execution and concept of the work? The economic climate? The gallery? These are questions that arise and often times you’ll never know. All you can do is control what you can control and concentrate on making the best work possible.

Another challenge is a common one, especially to female artists.. Six years ago I had my first son. Balancing motherhood with being an artist and all the other hats one must wear has been full of trial and error. Before children I would happily paint 8-10 hours a day. Now I am fortunate that I get about 20 a week. The great benefit is that I am much more efficient and focused with my time.
There are periods when it is filled with ease, and at other times it feels like I am stretched so thin it is hard to do anything well. I have accepted that I will need to be flexible and flow with the seasons of life as they come. Remember that it is a long game.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

I am a painter. I use cake decorating tools to make all of my work. While I had an affinity with puffy paint as a child, I was also enamored by frosting. On birthdays, I wanted that corner piece of cake and had dreams of becoming either a librarian or a cake decorator. My obsession with the sculptural nature of frosting continued in art school with my adoption of using pastry tips and cake decorating tools to create my paintings. I utilize these tools to address topics such as environmental toxins, the propaganda value of money, WW2, and whistleblowers.

I enjoy using my unique painting technique to create tension. My work explores a myriad of unsavory themes and makes them more palatable by rendering them as heavily frosted confections. I am currently working on a series of still life paintings. These are meant to be especially indulgent- rich in symbolism, texture, patterns and saturated color. The overarching theme connecting my body of work is an examination of consumption- of information, goods, and our historic inability to decipher truth from fiction. By piping acrylic gel medium onto the surface with pastry bags and tips, I create an enticing visual and tactile experience for the viewer. The end result is a painting that looks deceptively good enough to eat: an abundance of peaks, starbursts, flowers, pointillistic and rhythmic dots, and ribbons of graduated color draped over decadent mounds of paint masquerading as frosting.

I am very proud to have been recently featured in New American Paintings and be featured in the Pop Stars! Exhibition that is currently on view in St. Louis through summer 2025.

How do you think about happiness?

Painting makes me happy. The prep work of designing paintings makes me extremely happy. It brings me to this wonderful flow state of both thinking deeply and also not thinking at all.

And of course my family makes me happy. I am blessed beyond measure.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.lisaalonzo.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisaalonzo1984/?hl=en

Image Credits

Artist photo by Heather Seymour.