Lisa Sheets - Biography Background

I was born in Arlington Heights, Illinois, in 1963. Although I enjoyed art as a child, my high school years were spent immersed in the study of music, and I enrolled at Western Illinois University in 1981 as a flute performance major. During college, I rediscovered my love for the visual arts, particularly printmaking and sculpture. In 1989 I received the Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. For two years after graduation, I worked as the wax department coordinator at the Walla Walla Foundry, casting and tooling wax patterns for many internationally known artists. In 1991, I moved to the Seattle area, and spent 3 years as owner/director of the Smart Art Gallery in Pioneer Square, Seattle.

Currently

I am now a full time artist located in Woodinville, WA. My work has recently been exhibited at City Hall in Mannheim, Germany. Artist Trust of Seattle, a regional organization that supports artists in the Pacific Northwest, awarded me a $1200 grant to cover the shipping costs of my Germany exhibit. The City of Redmond has commissioned me to create a lifesize sculpture of a mother and daughter, which was installed in Anderson Park in November, 2000. My work is available year round at the Atelier 31 Gallery, Kirkland WA.

About My Work

These mixed media collage/prints are made up of layered images. They depict 20th century women, from different generations. They reflect on the changing look of women through the years, allowing us to look back at our ancestors and see the many similarities and differences between us and the "she" of the past. The collages combine the images of "real" women, with images of "the perfect" woman, the model wearing a corset in a 50's magazine, the distance that has always existed between reality and perfection (or perceived perfection).

A collagraph print is made using an artist-made "plate". I make my collagraph plates out of cardboard with textures such as: lace, pantyhose, hand-crocheted doilies, gauze, and more recently, leaves and pine needles. This collagraph plate is inked and then printed over the color-xerox collage, using a hand operated etching (printing) press. This creates an embossed "impression" of the textures, as well as a color printing of the textures and pattern. Through the use of the collagraph plate to unify the collage imagery, each collage becomes like a separate "dream", the characters engaged in some otherworldly exploration of themselves and the question "Who is She to You?"

Lisa Working on Stephanie
Lisa working on Stephanie
Photo by Matt Saettler

Lisa Sheets 13931 Bear Creek Rd. NE, Woodinville, WA 98077 425-881-2192 lisa@artspawn.org