September 11, 2014
ARTIST LISA LAPOINTE
While a multitude of job titles is increasingly the norm, Lisa Lapointe has decided to go in the other direction. That's after the Sydney artist tried the other path, working across a range of different roles in the fashion and interiors industries. After graduating from the UNSW's College of Fine Arts, Lisa started her working life in fashion for the cutting edge boutique Pretty Dog in Newtown then went across to homewares store Orson & Blake. She also had stints at Ksubi, Mark Tuckey, Les Interieurs and Romance Was Born. All the while, Lisa would take on styling jobs too. Last December, though, she decided to focus on her drawing work. “I couldn’t be happier,” she says. “I felt I was getting nowhere doing too many things. I’m now getting somewhere doing one thing. It feels like finally going home doing just my art.” Today she creates large-scale artworks using Prismacolor pencils, and after exhibiting at Butchers Hook Gallery in Sydney's Paddington and Modern Times in Fitzroy, Melbourne, Lisa is back in the studio creating a new body of work.
Which five words best describe you? Curious, particular, sharp, offbeat, carnivore.
How did you get your career start and what path have you taken since? I was always obsessed with drawing and making as a child. I started a label called Salty Tulip when I finished school under which I made handmade leather wallets - they were so hard to make. I then spent the next decade working in fashion and interiors. I believe this exposure helped to shape my eye. I then decided to give it all up and dedicate my time to my art.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt along the way? That there is always more to learn. Listen to your heart and it will give you what you want.
What’s your proudest career achievement? To be a full-time artist.
What’s been your best decision? At my first “all pencil” show a good friend of mine looked at my works and said, “You've found you're thing.” My best decision was to take this on and act on it - I found myself as an artist after that.
Who inspires you? My father - he is super sharp and has an abundance of energy for everything.
What are you passionate about? Quality, colour, textures, nature, love, linguistics, music.
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? Salvador Dali.
What dream do you still want to fulfill? I have so many… as an artist - it’s to be hung, to be collected. To travel - to see the world in all its many forms. But basically, to constantly be a better version of myself.
What are you reading? The greatness of Saturn by Dr Robert Svoboda.
images courtesy of lisa lapointe