We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lisa Solomon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lisa below.
Lisa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
I think one of the things I’ve learned as a maker is the power of involving the public with your work. Artists tend to sit in their studios alone to make their work, and while that has its own power and can be deeply fulfilling, there is an added bonus – if you will, when you can reach out to a community for help and participation. The first time I did this was with a piece that involved making 1000 doilies – 10 in 100 colors, as an installation for an exhibition that revolved around the number 1000 and it’s symbolism in Japanese culture. [I am 1/2 Japanese and often use my work to explore aspects of culture/heritage that I have had less access to as an American]. I had to ask people to help me make all the doilies and the response was amazing. This sort of rallying of community also tied directly to an idea of luck generation that I was exploring, and thus was made even more significant. I’ve also asked the public for stories about their personal items [The Keepsake Project], for stories about color memories [The Chroma Chronicles], and an artist friend and partner in color love – Christine Buckton Tillman – and I have asked people to mail us small items – think plastic toys, beverage tops, chopsticks, etc – that we then arrange by color.
Each time I’ve interacted with a larger community I realize how the power of creativity does indeed bind us and offers us a chance to embrace humanity.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am an artist, author/illustrator, and educator. I make large scale installations along side small and intimate pieces that often utilize craft materials – embroidery, crochet, felt, etc. – as a nod to my grandmother [who taught me how to crochet] and as a means to blur the line between art and craft. I also am profoundly interested in exploring personal histories, as well as gender constructs and how subjects and materials are often categorized in our society. I also often use my studio as a means to render harmless ideas and materials that are frightening or confusing to me.
As an author/illustrator I am interested in sharing knowledge I’ve gained over many years of making things. I’ve written an embroidery craft book [Knot Thread Stitch], a color theory book which contains some real principles, but presents them in a more friendly voice [A Field Guide to Color], as well as a card deck [The Color Meditation Deck] which takes a practice I developed – Color Meditation – and provides prompts for people who want to explore color and expand their studio practice in an easy and hopefully fulfilling way.
I have taught a wide array of art classes in colleges and small workshop settings for over 20 years. I love watching student’s lightbulb moments and strive to provide a space where people can be vulnerable and learn not only the technical skills they need to make their work, but enter into the conceptual arena of what their work can mean/convey not only to themselves but to a larger audience. I am continually looking for ways to bridge the gaps between being creative, living creatively, and make a living being creative. Ideas of community and support and the importance of making space for creativity in your life are incredibly important to me, and things I attempt to foster for others.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I think one of the things that I had to let go of is perfection, and also the importance of time. From a very young age, I always wanted my schoolwork and things I presented to be as perfect as possible. This would cause a pretty large amount of anxiety and stress as I strove toward this nebulous goal that I couldn’t even clearly define. Art is often at its best when it’s full of “happy accidents”. We learn the most from the times we fail, or struggle. I am now sometimes bored or unsatisfied when everything comes easy in the studio. That’s not to say I reject ease. I can definitely draw and choose colors with a skill and quickness that eluded me when I was younger, BUT I have also learned that sometimes the best things happen when you stumble, or play, or allow space for things to just happen.
Also, I think we are often taught in society that time spent = importance. On the one hand – YES ! I believe in the idea of it takes 1000 hours to really become skillful at something. But as someone who sometimes puts in a ridiculous amount of sheer labor in their work – it’s not always the time spent that is important, and I hate when people want to qualify or quantify the success of a piece over the amount of time. People have asked me how long did it take you to do that? And I now respond – I don’t really know and don’t really care because if I kept track of all the time, I might cry. I also think that you can make a successful thing in 5 minutes, or 500 hours. It’s not about the time, but the object itself. Does it work or not? Why? Why not? And to be honest, it takes your whole life to get to the point where you are making the thing you are making. What may have taken you 10 hours 10 years ago, now takes you 10 minutes. Does that diminish the result? I don’t think it does.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think a lot of times creatives [or those who want to support them] are looking for a flight plan for their life and career. If I do A, B, C then D and E will follow. When one becomes a Doctor or a Lawyer there are clear steps you take to achieve your goal. In creative fields this is just not the case. I mean, in some instances there are things you do to achieve your goals – like learning software so you can create characters in games. But overall I think that most “successful” creatives I know have taken a meandering path and need to stay open and realize that the THING that might change your career trajectory can seem really small or insignificant at the time. It could be the one time you learned to weld, or the one conversation you had at an art opening that shifts everything and brings clarity. I also think that we are so often engaged in a conversation that isn’t helpful. I’ve heard many younger artists think that by this age you should be doing this. I think that’s just not true. I’ve seen artists find their voices at 15 and 80. One isn’t more valuable or serious or better than the other.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.lisasolomon.com
- Instagram: @lisasolomon
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisasolomondotcom/
Image Credits
red knot piece – Claire Astrow the people looking and pointing photo – stewart watson the 5 portraits – stephan heraldo all others are mine