Artist catalogue by Lisa Colombo

Index Introduction

Mindmap

Inspirations

5-8

Fields

9-11

My work / sketches

12-17

Mette

18-19

Articles

20-25

Interview

26-27

Practices

Welcome Dear reader, welcome to Lisa Colombo’s first of many artist catalogues. You might be wondering what the title of this catalogue means. Well wonder no more as here is my explanation : Always and Forever are words I use excessively in my everyday vocabularly. ‘I want this to last forever’, ‘I’ll always be this way’. I have a hard time seeing things change/ end therefore I decided to dedicate this catalogue to this chapter of my life which will eventually end but I will forever remember and always cherish. In this catalogue I will dive in to my current inspirations, what I am working on, where I want to go and much more. Stick around and enjoy this temporary yet eternal collection of my thoughts.

In england we call mindmaps : spider diagrams

Kitch, usual colour combinations

Eccentric

Visual culture

Visually driven Critical theory

ator, r t s u Ill ign, , s e d In room t h g Li shop o t o Ph

ics

ram e C

, ing t ain

Childlike

Use of colour, simple lines, non realistic

Experimental Enthusiastic

p for Always u e a challeng

rt wi

ing

ne i l n ,o

Mixed media

Inspirations

Harley weir

George Rouy

Ema Gaspar

Amanda Wall

fields with reinaart

I chose to go with Reinaart’s practicing collectivity field. The concept of this field was ‘Why do it alone when you can do it together’. This motto resonates strongly in the practice I want to go into in the future. I not only enjoy group work but I think I thrive in a group setting and I find solitary work daunting and unmotivating. We started out with an important set of rules. It is key to have a communal agreement when in a collective to avoid conflict and keep things clear. Over the weeks, we came up with a very fun concept of reacting to each other’s work. We created a chain of works so everyone would always have something to react and work on. We started by sending each other an inspiration and progressed into sending each other works we were making. The momentum slowed down quite fast which was a shame. This made me realise how hard it is to be in a collective especially online.

fields with reinaart I reacted to a text sent to me about fragility. I decided to interpret this by drawing butterflies. To me, butterflies are the most ephemeral and fragile thing I could think of. This also connects to this concept of beautiful things having to end. Butterflies are colourful, special insects but have a life expectancy of 2 weeks or less. I wanted to experiment with drawing them on illustrator but also scanning them in and playing with that.

I am currently working my first oil painting. I started with sketching many different ideas for the final product. I wanted to mix this childlike element I like to incorporate in my work with something realistic and out of my comfort zone. The concept of the painting links back to this idea of moments having to end and nothing really lasting forever. Recently my boyfriend was given a few weeks to move out of his antikraak home. This was a painful and challenging process. In some ways this painting is a therapeutic way for myself get over this moment and realise there can be a sunny outcome from bitter moments.

Motherhood is eternal

You’re half way through now don’t worry!

In Mette’s classes we have been exploring different topics such as feminism, pleasure activism, performance art and anger as a method. In this particular class we were getting ready for the slut stand. We talked about frustrations and how we deal with them. We did a few exercises and one of them was making an angry face and choosing to draw anyone in the class. I chose Emily as she looked frustrated and confused and sad. When I’m angry I often experience sadness overpowering my anger. I chose to therefore accompany the sad look on her face with cold colours.

In this class we created alter egos or a character of our choice. We improvised in a small acting challenge and also played with our background to make our characters more powerful. My name was Mrs. Lindsay, I was recently married to Ari aka Paris with a P’s father. This caused drama and fighting. I am from Los Angeles and enjoy money. My inspiration for the character was June George who is the mum in the movie ‘Mean Girls’. I am not normally someone who enjoys performance but I felt like I could really let go and experiment.

practices at wdka

Interviewing Robin Van Leijsen

Lisa (me) : How are we similar in the way we make art? Robin: I feel like the way we both love using bright colors in our works is something we have in common. While using these colors we both make our works immediately looking fun and joyful and this I think creates an extra layer to our works in terms of an idea behind it. Also we both love drawing so that’s another thing we and our works have in common. Lisa: How are we different in the way we make art? Robin: The way we are different in our works is the way we come up with our works. I see an image and think of an concept and you see some information and start realizing your project in that way. Also in terms of technical skills our fields differ a bit I think. For example I already have depend myself in the medium of painting, while you have done this with for example doing research and finding good sources. Lisa: Describe my way of working and how you see me in the art world :) Robin: How I always see your way of working is that you notice something or find a certain piece of information, think about this for a very long time and then all in one time you write everything down and come up with a project you’re going to make. This project is both visually and conceptually appealing. You have already said it before yourself, like for example working in a type of magazine for either fashion or art seems interesting to you and I also really see you there. You are good at writing, see what visuals work and which not and are good at fitting an idea behind this image. Lisa: What are some tips from your art practice you think I could benefit from? Robin: I think something a tip you could benefit from is to trust the process. Not everything works out immediately but takes a lot of work to become the way you envisioned something. Try to not stop where you see a blockade but go over this and you will find new ways of doing something and new skills you have never experienced before. Lisa: What have you learnt from me? Robin: What I have learnt from you is to enjoy the process, trust my (gut) feelings and listen more to them.

Robin interviewing me

Robin: When I say ‘my art’ in a sentence, what is the first thing you think of? Lisa (me): the first thing I think about when I think of your art is very obviously painted portraits. Especially self portraits. Over the school year you have changed your focus and even if in some ways portrait-making is your brand, you are expanding and your work genre is starting to become something even bigger. Robin: What colors do you think of when you think of my works? Lisa: It really depends but as a hole the colours that make me think of your work the most are purple and lime green. In the philosophical aspect purple makes me think of perseverance and loyalty which I associate with what you make. I also know you love using unconventional colours in your realistic paintings to add a playful aspect. Lime green reflects the liveliness and creativity in your works. Robin: What is the main message you think I want to convey with my works? Lisa: It obviously varies from work to work. Overall I think that if you are painting a portrait you want to communicate and embody as much as the person as possible. Doing them justice through paint. Robin: What future do you see for me when you look at my works? Lisa: From the moment I saw what you made, I knew you and your works would make it far. Of course you have a natural talent when it comes to technique and visuals but you also have an extremely high determination and motivation. If I imagine you in the future I see you successfully living off your work because the world deserves to see it. Robin: What tips would you have for me? Lisa: I think a good tip for you is to allow yourself to still explore and let yourself change as an artist and as a person. Even if you have a very clear style as 19 years old do not limit yourself too much on what you are comfortable with.

I enjoyed working in the social practice last year. I was pleasantly surprised to see how a common subject can connect people on a different level. I enjoyed learning how to combine data to create something coherent but also impactful and helpful to others. I’ve never really collected data to make a final piece so it’s something I want to take forward. On the other hand, in the future I am looking at doing something in the commercial field, more specifically working in a magazine. With that in mind, I think the commercial practice is something that could benefit me in the long run. I am very interested in imagining what our futures might look like, making a forthcoming scenario is important when looking if our creativity and ideas will survive and last in years to come as well as which circumstances will affect them. In the end, I decided to go for the commercial practice and the honours programme. I think this will push me to work harder and hopefully facilitate my end goal!

xoxo lisa