ARTIST STATEMENT
Lisa Sheets' mixed media collages explore history, gender roles, and cultural norms, and how these things impact our lives. Sheets uses combinations of religious and historical iconography along with pop culture images to stress the sacred in our modern day lives. She emphasizes the constantly shifting and changing roles that shape us, and examines how we unravel those roles through history.
Using a combination of found/recycled materials such as S&H green stamps and sewing patterns, along with digital copies of vintage photos gleaned from advertising, family albums, and historical databases, Sheets creates a lens to examine a glimpse back to our history and reflect on its influence on our present. She often uses repetition and digital manipulation of source images to emphasize key imagery and create symmetrical compositions.
ARTIST BIO
My background is in music, art and psychology. I earned a BA in Psychology and Art (sculpture and printmaking emphasis) with a minor in Music (flute) from Western Illinois University. Following that I completed an MFA in cast metal sculpture at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
In the 1990s I owned Smart Art Studio/Gallery in Pioneer Square, and in 2000 I created an art resource for workshops and art studio rentals called Artspawn Studios in Woodinville WA. Since then I have worked in collage, book arts, and printmaking. I have recently completed 5 years of education and training to become a certified American Sign Language interpreter.
My sculptures are in the collections of the City of Kirkland, City of Redmond, and the City of Mountlake Terrace. My collages are in the collections of the State of Washington, University of Washington Medical Center , University of Washington Book Arts Collection, the Doug + Laurie Kanyer Art Collection, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC.