"I want my painting to transform the viewer by interacting with it visually and emotionally."
Lisa Bailey
How does your work interact with the theme of “A Generous Kingdom V: Art that Explores Story, Symbolism, and Beyond”?
Whether they are called Dragons or Dinosaurs, these magnificent creatures have become part of our everyday reality through paintings, sculpture, stories, movies and more. My painting ‘Realm of Dragons” is my imagination made into a Kingdom of itself. I put together dragons from all different cultures that have a broad spectrum of symbolism, including crossbreeds that I created. My story creates a realm using the subjects as the landscape.
Does the idea of transformation influence your work and process? For each painting, I hope to bring something to the artwork that cannot be done any other way. My desire is to transform the subject matter in a direction that engages the viewer in a way never done before.
What draws you to the medium you chose? And tell us a little about your process. I chose watercolor because it explores the physical phenomenon of volume color, that only transparent fluids present. I love the clean bright color, and the fluid transparency allowing constant change in value, intensity, color, and blending possibilities. Each artwork starts with a sketch and the development of a color pallet, specific for each painting, to ensure everything will come together how I imagined.
Who inspires you? And What do you do to get inspired?
The life I live with my family has plenty to inspire me, but my thoughts and dreams give me inspiration as well. When traveling I am exposed to new environments and objects, these new experiences further inspire me. Through this process, my mind starts to explore and invent ways to express those adventures.
What do you hope your work achieves, in general, and/or specifically with this installation.
I want the viewer to be engaged with my artwork. I hope my artwork intrigues the viewer to look closer and discover more than simply realism. I want my painting to transform the viewer by interacting with it visually and emotionally. I want my paintings to be an adventure during the viewing process and not just decorative color on the wall.