Lisa Solberg - Painter

(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

For yet another installation in my loosely defined neighborhood photo project "90021," I asked painter and TOY Factory Loft resident Lisa Solberg if I could drop by for some photos of her in her studio.

Lisa truly gives meaning to the phrase "live/work" loft. She lives and works in a very sparsely furnished loft complete with excellent window light. She lives her work. Walls are covered with paint smears and Post-It notes scrawled with notes—written backwards. (A habit she picked up when she was younger to hinder her mom from reading her sketchbooks.) What's immediately obvious is that one thing is paramount to Lisa—her art.


(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

Her curriculum vitae is almost as thick as her passport. A world traveler, she speaks German and can get by in Spanish if need be. She also speaks with a certainty and confidence about her vision that nearly competes with the bold strokes and colors in her paintings. Her prolificacy is evidenced by the 22 exhibitions she's been shown in to date. Today, she casually transferred a drawing from her sketchbook onto a large canvas pinned to the wall. "Is that the Virgin Mother?" I asked. "Yup. The Pietá. I revisit the Pietá a lot."


(Click image for full size.) © William Anthony

She just wrapped up a solo show of new work here in Los Angeles at Kinsey/DesForges Gallery. Next up is a group exhibition at Amsterdam's Andenken Gallery. You can find more information at her web site and see new work regularly posted at her blog.