Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Urban.
Hi Lisa, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I have been making art my entire life. I had a grandmother who gave me art supplies at a young age and pushed me creatively, which led to my initial love of art. From there I had some amazing teachers in elementary and high school that continued to encourage me, which led to my decision to go to art school for college. In college I focused on painting and drawing, two mediums I felt most comfortable with. At the same time I was teaching myself to knit and falling in love with fibers. I found ways to incorporate my new love of fiber art into my final portfolio – painting scenes with knitted objects placed within the landscape – and have evolving that concept for over 10 years now.
Since creating my “knitscape” paintings, I have continued looking for ways to bring the knitted forms into the gallery space alongside the paintings. This process has involved a great deal of trial and error, including a papier-mâché tree, a large resin-filled tide pool, and, most recently, hollow light sculptures. These sculptures—knitted orbs with distinct patterns, formed around balloons and placed over lights—have become an increasingly important part of my artistic identity. Although I have not painted in over a year, the sculptures have continued to evolve. They have shifted from decorative patterns into more personal designs that reflect memories, timelines, and colored panels that cast unique reflections on the wall.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Has any artist had a smooth road? Likely not. For me, I thought I had a solid plan with my paintings and it really was smooth sailing from there. But then the sculpture ideas came along and things evolved and got rocky. I tried making giant trees with knitted forms on top (picture a bonsai tree) and that was a disaster. For a bit I was also just knitting giant, soft knit sculptures to place along the gallery floor in front of a mural. That went ok but it didn’t feel professional. When I started painting water scenes, I made a huge ‘tidepool’ from paper mache, chicken wire and resin, with floating knitted forms inside. This was the most successful but also the messiest and still felt weird.
I stumbled on the idea of the hollow, knitted sculpture by accident. I am a high school art teacher by day, and we had a paper mache unit where students were using balloons to build form. I had been attempting to create soft knit sculptures for a while, but it was going nowhere. One day in class as I watched students wrap their balloons, this idea of putting a knitted form around a balloon popped into my head. I felt this spark and went home that day to experiment. I created a form, dipped it in glue, blew up a balloon and let it dry. I was so excited when the balloon popped and the form kept it shape!!! This was the breakthrough that I needed and this simple concept has allowed me to play with stitch pattern as well as the reflections created when a light is placed underneath.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Well, I have already said so much about this but to say that I am ‘just’ a fiber artist isn’t enough. Yes, my work focuses on knitted fibers, but it also tells a story and creates a unique picture to the viewer.
I have two different bodies of work I go between right now, although both stem from the same general concept and form. The first is the knitted light sculpture, playfully titled the “IlluminKnit”, that just focus on pattern. I start with the same basic round form pattern and add delicate knitted lace patterns to the form as I knit. These patterns are thought out and meant to do nothing more than please the eye when lit up. Sometimes I will dye the yarn, but often times I leave it white to emphasize the pattern, and recently I have begun adding colored vinyl inside the lace holes to create colored reflections on the walls.
The second body of work is also in the form of the “IlluminKnit”, but tells a deeper story about myself and my daily life. I start by hand spinning white wool while dipping my fingers in black fabric ink. This embeds ‘fingerprints’ into the yarn. As mentioned before, I am an art teacher by day. Our school days has eight periods and I keep a weekly spreadsheet of how I feel each day went with each period. I label them in ways such as ‘calm worktime’ to ‘controlled chaos’ to ‘complete and utter chaos’. I use these spreadsheets as a basis for my stitch patterns. Using the handspun yarn, I knit the same orb pattern as before but divide the shape into wedges – one wedge for each period. Within each wedge I do three rows per class day, for five days total, and create stitch patterns representative of how that period went each day. Ordered, delicate patterns represent calm, while ripped, large holes and unordered designs represent chaos. The entire form comes together to create a unique interpretation of my life as an art teacher. These sculptures are the ones I am most proud of, as they truly embody what my life looks like and are personal to me.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Don’t ever give up and don’t lose faith in yourself. My artwork is only where it is because, despite all the lows, I have always pushed through and taken the time to reset, regroup and make new art.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Lisaurbanart.com
- Instagram: @Lisa_24_7
