ARTIST STATEMENT
When I paint, I’m digging deep to find pure expression. Painting is not a thinking act for me. I am capturing all these things in my head; anger, pain, love, the loss of a dog …… I’m building the painting by adding then scraping away then adding again.
These marks are always reacting to each other. For me everything is constantly changing, emerging and exploring until it feels settled. Engaging.
It takes me a while to find this groove, to stop it all and just paint. I need to go at it without the caution of covering over that last brushstroke. Once I find this place, I fall in love again with the process, with the smell and butteriness of the oil paint. I’m filling a blank canvas with a new, physical conversation and I never want to leave.
So many times, when I start, I feel like “how will I ever make a new painting?” So, I have all these sketchbooks full of collages. They are made up of color chips, magazine images, drawings. I pull out a few that I want to work through, that feel good together. They give me a starting point. Sometimes I’ll write something on a canvas that is just mine. This starts my connection. You might get a glimpse peeking from beneath the finished surface.
Lately I’ve been introducing new materials to my practice. Weaving in some new ideas and adding dimensional texture. Materials like fabric, silver leaf and resewn old canvas as I explore some new ideas. I’m also continuing to move between painting with loose broad gestures to clean refined paintings. I’ve always had a love for modern architecture so these straight measured lines give my mind a break and keep me in the creative state.
Some of the titles I attach are purely personal, where my head was at that day, who I was thinking about or a clever play on words. I encourage the viewer to make their own associations with my work, to let what you see be just that for a minute. You bring one more layer to what I’ve made.
CURRICULUM VITAE
REPRESENTATION
Fresh Paint Art, Los Angeles, California
Drew Marc Gallery, Tampa, Florida
EDUCATION
BFA, The School at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
COLLECTIONS AND PLACEMENTS
Four Season Resort, Nevis, West Indies
Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building, Salt Lake City, Utah
Capella, Bangkok, Thailand
Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, California
Solaire Resort & Casino, Manila, Philippines
Hard Rock Hotel, Hollywood, Florida
Belmond Grand Hotel Europe, St. Petersburg, Russia
The Plaza, New York, New York
Fox Rothschild, LLP, Denver, Colorado
Club Quarters Bryant Park, New York, New York
Four Seasons, Denver, Colorado
Hotel Hugo, New York, New York
ABC Studios, set of ‘Private Practice’
Four Seasons, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Guy Savoy Restaurant, Singapore
Kirkland & Ellis, San Francisco
Sands Cotai Hotel, Macau China
Terranea Resort, Palo Verdes, CA
The Venetian Macao Resort, Macau China
The Pendry Four Seasons, Park City, Utah
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Hall, Prangle & Schoonveld, Chiago, IL.
Microsoft Corporation, Seattle WA.
Anglo Irish Bank, Boston MA
Sue Miller and Jeff Tweedy, Chicago IL
St. Regi, Macau, China
Hotel Hugo, New York, NY
Murray and Murray Law Offices, Sandusky, OH
Envision, Denver, CO
Butler Snow, Denver, CO
Fairmont, San Jose, CA
Claridge House, Chicago, IL
Steelcase, Inc., St. Louis, MO
Haworth Corporation, Holland, MI
URS Architectural, Grand Rapids, MI
Greenfield Partners, Chicago IL
The Confluence, Denver, CO
Pechanga Resort, Temecula, Ca
Sun City Kobe Tower, Kobe, Japan
Tristan Thompson, Boston, MA
The Londoner, Macau, China
Liner, Freedman Taitelman + Cooley, Los Angeles, CA
The Leyton, New York, NY
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024
Changing Spaces, group show, Radius Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
Breaking Ground, group show, Lafontsee Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2023
Cut & Paste, group show, Lafontsee Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2022
In Cahoots, group show, Lafontsee Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2018
A R T / Art Movement Colorado, Boulder, CO
2016
Season Opener, group show, Globe Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2014
Lisa Kowalski Black and White, solo show, Ironton Gallery, Denver, CO
2013
Wide View, Lafontsee Gallery, Douglas, MI
2011
New Work, Ironton Gallery, Denver, CO
2010
Into the Brilliance, Half/Dozen Gallery, Portland, OR
Fog, Half/Dozen Gallery, Portland, OR
2009
10Paintings, Half/Dozen Gallery, Portland, OR
Art Club, Half/Dozen Gallery, Portland, OR
2008
Exhibit Number 1, Lisa Kowalski Studio and Gallery, Denver, CO
New Work, New City, Square 101 Gallery, Denver, CO
Recent Paintings‘, Bluestone Gallery, Denver, CO
2007, 2006
Fashionation at Lumin , Chicago, Il.
Aqua Art at Miami Art Basel, Miami Fl.
BridgeartFair at Trafalgar Square, London, UK
BridgeArtFair at Art Chicago, Chicago, IL
BridgeArtFair at Miami Art Basel, Miami, FL
New Paintings, Navta Schulz Gallery Chicago, IL
Five, Lafontsee Galleries, Grand Rapid, Mi
Four, Navta Schulz Gallery. Chicago. IL
Fresh Paint, Navta Schulz Gallery, Chicago, IL