Artist Statement 


The human face inspires me. As humans, we respond to its image beyond all others. For all its familiarity, we rarely pause to consider the face as a visual form, something more than the recognition of a friend or an interaction with a stranger. I paint the face in ways to cause the viewer to reconsider its splendor and renew faith in all things human. You will recognize yourself, someone, everyone and no one in my faces. 

I create fun, vibrantly colored figurative and portrait paintings in oils.

Celebrate color in the shape of a nose, the curve of the ears, the mask of the eyes, and the lines of the lips and hair. Most of all remember the humanity in humanity.

I love how we recognize and explore human faces for clues to identity and personality. Part of the human condition is knowing we’re transitory beings, but we seem to be something eternal at the same time. I like playing with that concept on the canvas. I think there is something in everybody that continues on, and moments when we transcend into something greater than ourselves. I like to explore these concepts in my paintings. As physical things, the paintings have a life of their own, enhancing the concepts by their existence and telling our stories to future generations.

I want to produce work that helps you remember how amazing it is we are here, that it’s fun and something about us endures! To this end, I like to interpret the interplay of patterns and textures that occur haphazardly on the faces of people or figures in a crowd. I weave these patterns into my paintings with unreal color, repetition, lines and shape. My ideas come from color combinations, feelings I get about a person, moment or image, shadows and sunlight, interesting compositions and the lines of a face.

Once I have an idea to explore, I make multiple color sketches of the subject and work with the composition. When I am happy with the image, I begin the oil painting. Because I have composition and color worked out before I begin, the painting tends to go quickly. I prefer to paint alla prima, in one or two sessions.

I continue to explore the face and delve into color, emotions, concepts and composition. I believe my paintings have the power to resonate with people across the world and in times to come. My paintings as a whole speak to the good in humanity and weigh in on the side of human potential.

-- Lisa Reinke 

Posted: Sun - November 23, 2003 at 09:49 PM          

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