We recently connected with Lisette Chavez and have shared our conversation below.

Lisette , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

When I was in high school I attended a cousin’s graduation party. My mother brought up a portrait I had drawn of my grandfather and an older cousin asked to see it. This was before smartphones, so my mom asked me to go home and get it. I returned with the drawing and showed it to my cousin while the rest of my family gathered around. When he saw the portrait, my cousin started to weep uncontrollably. Another cousin who I had just met that evening said, “You know you have a gift when your artwork can make someone cry.” I’ll never forget it.

Lisette , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a multi-disciplinary artist who creates drawings, lithographs, and installation-based work. I was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, the border of South Texas and Mexico. Being raised in that particular area of the United States, along with my Mexican- American heritage has definitely shaped the lens I use to create my art. My family was very conservative and we spent a lot of time at our Catholic Church. My mother is obsessed with death, so she frequently took me to wakes and funerals since the age of four. All of these experiences culminated in a person (me), who has interests in beauty and the grotesque, good and evil, as well as life and death. Much of my work deals with finding a deeper understanding of the human condition.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As a younger artist, I never considered how viewers would react to my artwork, or what their takeaway would be. The work I create is always first and foremost for myself, but it has definitely been rewarding to connect with strangers, outcasts in particular. I am a pretty introverted person, so I think it’s incredible to realize you have a profound connection with a stranger. It says a lot about the power of art, and how it helps us communicate with one another, especially complex emotions or thoughts.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

You’ll find a lot of devil imagery in my artwork and it tends to be off-putting to some people. However, in my very conservative Catholic family, my mother spoke more about the devil than God or Jesus. I was taught to live my life in fear, not through love. My parents frequently shared cautionary tales about “good” and “bad” girls. As a grown woman, I can look back and see how a lot of those terrifying stories were used to suppress my inquisitive mind, and squash my confidence as a young girl. The devil imagery within my work is used as a device or tongue-in-cheek way to take power away from something that was used to instill fear in me and others. I hope people can move past it, and realize the positive messages within my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lisettechavez.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisettechavezstudio

Image Credits
Beth Devillier, David Rodriguez