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

Hi Lisette, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I was trained as a high school teacher and right from the start I knew this wasn’t my calling for life.
During my teacher training studying to become a Visual Arts teacher, I learned a lot of analogue Graphic techniques and knew right there and then that I wanted to become an artist.

But I believe my first unconscious calling happened in my childhood. I was deeply moved by an artistic video clip. I believe this experience set the bar for my interest in art. It was music, art and a fairy tale love story I lost myself in while watching. For me as a six year old, it made a big impression. It is one of my core childhood memories.

The animated music video I am referring to is “Take on me’ by A-ha directed by Steve Barron took six months to make and featured the band in a live-action pencil-sketch animation sequence. The video won six awards and was nominated for two others at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.

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 background and context?

My name is Lisette Schumacher, I am a visual artist. For ten years I combined teaching Art and Art history with being an artist. My art practice slowly expanded over the years. One and a half years ago I quit my teaching job to fully focus on my art career.

My artistic practice revolves around modern architecture. I travel to visit architecture with historical value in Europe and the USA. I am currently focused on mid-century modern architecture in Los Angeles. I make paintings, sculptures, wall sculptures and occasionally installations.

My interest lies in the idea that architecture engenders a basic physical experience prior to also initiating an intellectual interpretation. By observing the location intensely and moving through each room repeatedly, I can both experience the space in a physical way and interpret it intellectually. After studying the site’s history and architect, a period of in-depth research into technique, material and colour schemes follows. This results in a series of works that reflect on the site’s atmosphere, history and its design.

My art is on view and for sale in Los Angeles via Rhett Baruch Art + Design Gallery located at 357 N La Brea Ave 90036, by appointment only.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Firstly it feels so good to manage my own time. It gives me a sense of freedom. For years I followed a mandatory schedule from the organization I was working for. Being able to decide what I do and when I do so felt liberating. The downside of it all is that sometimes it is hard to stop, to take that time off for the weekend, or a holiday. Working in the field of visual art is my true passion, so it doesn’t actually feel like work most of the time. Except when I have a deadline coming up that is.

Secondly, one of the most rewarding moments i have gotten to experience with a couple of visitors is that when they themselves have visited the architectural site I am doing research on. And more importantly that they recognize the physical experience they had during their visit and ‘feel’ it in my works. My works are translations of both the physical and the intellectual interpretation of an architectural space, so meeting people that can truly relate to my work is very rewarding .

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I graduated, my research subject was quite personal, it was about painting remnants of spaces I had visited or lived in. Dreamy scenes of windows, openings, plays of light and shadow. People liked my work from the beginning, but I noticed when I talked about the backstory, it was too personal, it missed something content-related that would commit a larger audience. After a while my personal spaces ran out. It was time for a new path. At the time I was teaching Art History and my favorite subject was ‘modern architecture’. I decided to shift my focus to that subject.

I grew up in Rotterdam, the largest harbor city of the Netherlands. After the Second World War, Rotterdam’s city centre was rebuilt with a modern infra structure. I lived there many years and loved the mixture of old and new. The city is nicknamed ‘Manhattan at the Maas river’ since it resembles Manhattan NY. It was however not challenging enough to focus on my own city, I already knew a lot about the local architecture and decided to focus on a French-Swiss architect I found intriguing and whose works I had not yet seen in real life. During four and a half years I traveled to France to immerse myself in the mysterious and incredible designs by Le Corbusier. When I showed my first series inspired by his St Marie de la Tourette monastery in Eveux, I had meaningful conversations with visitors. Many people knew about Le Corbusier and with that I reached a new audience of architects, (interior) designers and architecture enthusiasts like me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lisetteschumacher.com
• Instagram: @lisetteschumacher
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisette-schumacher-9b23401b0/

Image Credits

Sophie de Vos photography