Tuesday

Lisa Congdon

Stumbling, eclectic and intense; three words that San Francisco based artist Lisa Congdon uses to describe her work. She began in the education and non-profit world and worked her way onto the art scene later in life. When she began producing art at the age of 33, she had no formal training – save a painting class she took with her brother – but if anything, Congdon has used that to her advantage, allowing herself to work outside of the rules of art establishment. As a mixed-media artist and illustrator, she is best known for her collages and use of uninhibited lines and colors. Beyond creating art, she is also the co-owner and curator of San Francisco store Rare Device, a creative space for artists, designers and artisans to showcase their original work. When she’s not in her studio, Congdon is in her workspace which she herself says is “a very creative, visually inspiring job.” At the age of 40, Congdon’s work has been shown in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Portland and Canada.

How has starting with art later in life made an impact on what you create?

That’s an interesting question. There’s training versus no training and there’s the age thing. In terms of being self taught, I don’t want to generalize, but in many cases I think self taught artists have less hang-ups about what other people are going to think. Friends that went to art school are always more damaged by the pressure. Those of us that haven’t gone to school haven’t had to deal with the rules of art establishment, we make what we want to make. Artists that are tenacious about what they want to do, trained or untrained, translates into making what you like. I think self-taught artists are kind of free to create what they want to create because they don’t have those teacher voices in their heads saying this is the right way to do it or this is the wrong way to do it. Any rules I have about art work are rules I’ve made up myself. Continue…