We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Margaret Lazzari. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Margaret below.
Margaret, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
My abstract paintings have recently been my most important project. I am a multitasking person who gets a lot done, but whose mind is often in a split state or dealing with distractions.
The abstract paintings bring together my cosmic, global, local and personal thoughts. For example, in “Waking at Dawn,” for the weeks it took me to paint it, I loved focusing on the power, energy, vastness, awe of nature. It was inspired by my trip to Yellowstone, especially Mammoth Hot Springs.
“Bubbles” and “Winter” were two paintings made in response to the pandemic, the current media agitation and political upheaval of recent years. These are my separate spaces, not so that I can run away from the problems of the day, but to have the brain space to meditate, find patterns, perceive cycles, separate substance from hype, and enjoy the pleasures of the senses.
There is still a lot going on in my life, sometimes too much. But in the studio, there are patterns in landforms, water, and sky that I can relate to us as beings in the natural world. These patterns are like states that we can experience in life, such as awe, conflict, flow, or inertia. A painting like “The Storm” feels like human emotions to me.
While my paintings are abstract, they are influenced by historical landscape art that expresses transcendence, like Ansel Adams photographs or the American luminist painters of the late 1800s. Contemporary influences are Joan Mitchell, Julie Mehretu, and Jennifer Packer.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I loved to draw from an early age, and in my late teens, discovered the joys and frustrations of painting, and have been at it ever since. I got my MFA from Washington University in St. Louis, and started teaching immediately so I could stay deeply involved in art.
Early on, I combined artmaking, teaching and writing. It was the beginning of my multitasking self. But there has been a great synergy among my three creative areas. Teaching helped me to stay abreast of contemporary art and art history, and the students provided a constant source of energy, experimentation and exchange of ideas. With writing, the task of translating visual art into words forced me to become clearer and more succinct in grasping core ideas and communicating them to others.
Eventually, I taught at the University of Southern California’s Roski School of Art and Design in painting, drawing, and design. I was Vice Dean of Faculty, Vice Dean of Art, and Chair of Painting and Drawing. During that time, I wrote short art reviews and multi-chapter textbooks, both alone and a co-author. I wrote “The Practical Handbook for the Emerging Artist” to help artists at the beginning stages of their careers. I am co-author of “Exploring Art: A Global, Thematic Approach,” published by Cengage. “Exploring Art” is a revolutionary approach to art appreciation, using themes such as “Social Protest/Affirmation” to connect art to students’ lives. It explores art from around the world, rather than just Western art. It changed how art appreciation is taught throughout the United States.
But my work as an artist has been the anchor for all my creative efforts. I have had museum and gallery exhibitions, in venues like Billis Williams Gallery in Los Angeles, St. Louis University, the Fresno Art Museum as Distinguished Woman Artist and an upcoming show at the USC Fisher Museum of Art. My works is in several museum collections, university collections and private collections. Plus, I do public art as half of the Lazzari Evans Public Art Design Team.
Have you ever had to pivot?
One big pivot in my career happened around 2010 when I decided to pursue public art while also making art in my studio for gallery shows. I like that public art is “out there,” accessible and available to all kinds of people, many of whom do not go to galleries or museums. For example, “The View from Above” in Terminal 7 of the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is seen by thousands of travelers every day. It spans the width of the terminal with a sweeping, open, vast landscape, the view of the California coast that passengers see upon landing at or taking off from Los Angeles. The mural shows a different space from the crowded terminal. It epitomizes the promise of travel as new spaces, adventures, and change.
The public art projects are always collaborative, which is so different from solitary studio work. That is one big pivot! I am half of the Lazzari Evans Public Art Design Team (https://www.lazzarievanspublicart.com/), along with the sculptor Lauren Evans. We completed “A View from Above” and 8 other public art pieces. Each of us brings a different expertise to our projects and yet we develop designs together and coordinate work flow so that projects are done on time and the final work pleases the client. No mean feat!
Here is another pivot with public art commissions. I had to completely change my way of working on them, compared to my studio work where I have the luxury to experiment, grow, reflect, and change so that the final painting often ends up being very different from where I started. That doesn’t work for public art commission where the planning phase is most important, and the work has to be conceived in its entirety before the making begins. Detailed proposals with images, budgets and timelines have to be made. Committees approve them and may stipulate changes to the design. After approval, the artmaking begins, but there can be no changes to the design unless you go through the proposal stage again (and no one wants to do that).
I like the collaborative and committee processes. It is different from being alone in the studio, for sure, but it is stimulating and rewarding when Lauren and I have made public art pieces like the City of Palmdale’s “Facing the Sun” that have been embraced by and given joy to a broad group of people.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I recommend my book, “The Practical Handbook for the Emerging Artist,” as a great resource for artists who have questions about the business side of their career, building networks, developing their art, applying for art opportunities, and more. It is a very helpful book for managing your art career.
I get inspiration and energy from a lot of sources. One of my favorite books is Anne Lamott’s “Bird by Bird,” which helped me stay disciplined even when artmaking is hard or seemingly impossible. I liked Bonnie Garmus’ “Lessons in Chemistry,” which is a good reminder that life is rarely fair, but that creativity and following one’s passion is almost always good.
Books about other people’s creative journeys are great. I recently finished “Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees, over thirty years of conversations with Robert Irwin,” by Lawrence Weschler. It is so amazing to see how others construct a creative life.
Books from other disciplines can also be inspiring, like Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing’s “The Mushroom at the End of the World.” Although it is about the markets and sourcing for exotic mushrooms, it is primarily a reminder for all of us to always keep our eyes open, observe carefully without preconceived notions, and to avoid catastrophic thinking. “An Immense World,” by Ed Yong, lays out how sensate beings of all kinds experience the world’s textures, colors, vibrations, and smells.
I love coffee-table books with beautiful pictures, especially ones that microscopic images from nature, such as of pollen or cells in the brain. And I am always drawn to “earth from above” type picture books, which show the vastness, fabulous colors, and patterns of the earth. They inspire paintings like “Season Change.” Webb telescope pictures are great, too.
Contact Info:
- Website: margaretlazzari.net
- Instagram: @margaretlazzari
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margaret.lazzari.9
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@margaretlazzari716
- Other: https://www.lazzarievanspublicart.com/
Image Credits
Photo credit: Margaret Lazzari