Lisa Solomon was born in Tucson Arizona, but has lived most of her life in California. She currently resides in Oakland with her husband, daughter, 2 dogs, 3 cats and many, many spools of thread. She received her BA in Art Practice from UC Berkeley in 1995 and her MFA from Mills College in 2003.
Profoundly interested in the idea of hybridization [sparked from her happa heritage – she is ½ Japanese and ½ Caucasian], Solomon’s mixed media works revolve thematically around domesticity, craft, and masculine and feminine triggers. She is drawn to found objects tending to alter them conceptually so that their meanings and original uses or intents are re-purposed. She often fuses “wrong” things together – recontextualizing their original purposes, and incorporating materials that inherently question the line between ART and CRAFT.
Ms. Solomon’s work has been recently featured in a monograph published by MIEL press [http://miel.bigcartel.com/product/pre-orders-only-hand-made-lisa-solomon]. She also authored a book on embroidery published by Quarry press entitled Knot Thread Stitch [http://www.qbookshop.com/products/199780/9781592537723/Knot-Thread-Stitch.html]. Her drawings and installations have been featured at various national and international venues including: The San Jose Museum of Art, the Academy of Art in Honolulu, HI, the Richmond Art Center in CA, and Koumi Machi Museum in the Nagano prefecture of Japan. Her work was recently featured in exhibitions at the ICA in San Jose, CA the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Ketchum, ID, the Sonoma County Museum of Art in CA, the Lawton Gallery at the University of Wisconsin, as well as the Ulrich Museum of Art in Kansas. Additionally she has exhibited with David Weinberg Gallery in Chicago, Garson Baker Gallery in NY, Women and Their Work in Austin TX, The Fine Arts Gallery at San Francisco State University, and The South Florida Art Center. She currently works with Walter Maciel Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, as well as Fouladi Projects in San Francisco where she will have a solo show in the Fall of 2013.
She regularly teaches Art at various colleges in the Bay Area –currently San Francisco State University, She has also taught at UC Berkeley, Mills College, CCA, and Cal State East Bay. She was also a member of the Curatorial Board of the Richmond Art Center from 2006-2008.
Ms. Solomon was recently an Artist in Residence at the Oakland Museum of Art in conjunction with their we/customize show. She also has received a travel award from the Komi Machi Museum, a Herringer Family Foundation Grant, an Eisner Prize for Excellence in Fine Arts, as well as a grant in 2010 to complete a site specific installation for Angles Gate – a non-profit art space in Southern California.
Connect with Lisa online: Website | Twitter | Instagram
