Lisa DeSmidt

Lisa DeSmidt

Over the last several years I have built a strong artistic practice and exhibited work in museums and cultural institutions throughout Southern California and internationally. Some examples include: University Art Museum at CSULB, Huntington Beach Art Center, Torrance Art Museum, Cultural Alliance of Long Beach and Gallery Lara, Tokyo, Japan. I have also shown work in non- traditional spaces in Long Beach, such as 4th Street Vine and the Stache Bar and at a vacant lot for the Alot Initiative through the Arts Council for Long Beach.

My work as a visual artist explores themes of culture, social interaction through symbolic interactionism and history as it relates to place and tradition. I live in Long Beach, California, in one of the most culturally diverse zip codes in the United States, 90806. My neighborhood reminds me much of the neighborhood I grew up in in Oakland, California. I am inspired by the intersection of many cultures, traditions, socio-economic backgrounds and histories.

I have two separate bodies of work that intertwine, inspire, and collide with one another much like the different cultures do in my community. In one body of work I use the traditional medium of painting. The paintings straddle the line of sculpture with the three-dimensional quality of the layers and added sculptural elements in some of the work. I look at these works as artifacts and relate to the process of an archaeologist uncovering a culture of a different time. Each layer of paint is a separate layer of time, however past present and future overlap in a non-linear narrative. This is very similar to the striations of time found in rock formations or the rings on a tree. I use common symbols that are seen in many cultures all over the world and across different times. There is an actual element of time in my work in that it takes months for the oil paint to dry before I can add on a new layer and entropy and decay inspire the work.

My second body of work studies the neighborhood where I live through research and observation. The Wrigley neighborhood is the intersection of many unique groups — from urban wildlife from the river bed to rival gang territories and homeless camps, residents must co-inhabit the area and learn to live with one another. I document the neighborhood through photographs, drawings, research on social platforms and historical research. I am working on an illustrated story about the neighborhood and incorporate this research into my paintings.

Exhibitions

2014″ARTRA Curatorial MAS Attack Ltd. LA x SF” Gripe + Tell, San Francisco, California2013
“MAS Attack 2” Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, California“Homing Pigeon: Edition 2” Gallery Lara, Tokyo, Japan
“Reflectives” 4th Street Vine, Long Beach, California
“MAS Attack” LA Mart, Los Angeles, California”Arts Council for Long B9each, Alot 2013″ Downtown Site, Renaissance High School, Long Beach, California 2012
“Veil” The Bungalow Building at the Cultural Alliance of Long Beach, Long Beach, California “The Grass is Always Greener in Iceland” The Stache Bar, Long Beach, California2008
“UAM Wide angle2” V20, The Venue, Long Beach, California2007
“7th Annual Auction Party” Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, California2006“6th Annual Auction Party” Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, California“Centered on the Center” Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, California2005“Insights,” University Art Museum, Long Beach, California“Seduction” Gatov Gallery, Long Beach, California“Human Figure Exhibition,” Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, California“Annual BFA Drawing and Painting Show,” Gatov Gallery, Long Beach, California“Intermedia Show,” Werby Gallery, Long Beach, California2004
“Over Hung,” Concrete Wall Gallery, Los Angeles, California“Who killed Painting?” Gallery 5, Long Beach, California

Education

1999- 2005
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California.
2010-2012
Design Communication Arts Certificate Candidate, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.Publications
2014
Art Enthusiast, SF, “Photo Feature: “ARTRA Curatorial MAS Attack Ltd. LA x SF,” Thursday, February 20th, 20142005
Long Beach Press Telegram, “The Human Form in All Its Diversity,” Friday May 27th, 2005, pg. 33.