Artist Lisa McCleary
Congratulations to Lisa McCleary who placed as a finalist in the 5th Edition!
Who are you?
My name is Lisa McCleary, I am an Irish-Australian artist currently based in New York. I was drawn to art ever since I was a young child. I spent hours at the kitchen table drawing and painting and making the most of any art set I could get my hands on. I studied art in high school in Ireland and continued on to do an Art Portfolio Course at Sally Noggin College of Further Education in Dublin. I then moved to Sydney to undertake a Bachelor of Fine Arts and began exhibiting my work. In 2016, I moved to NY to complete a Master of Fine Arts at Parsons, The New School, and have been working here ever since.
“Untitled (07/16/2020)”
Oil on Panel
By Lisa McCleary
What inspired you to begin utilizing oil paint as a medium?
The first time I used oil paint was in my Undergraduate Degree. I appreciate oil paint for its malleability and lustrous quality. It allows for the artist to utilize many different techniques of application; it provides a slower dry time and the ability to rework the surface over time. I vividly remember our mentor using a cloth to remove oil from the canvas to create highlights for the image. I had only used acrylic before that, so I was captivated by the possibilities of oils. I have spent years trying to master different means of application.
“Untitled (07/22/2020)”
Oil on Panel
By Lisa McCleary
Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind your winning work? What do you hope to communicate with this work?
My current series is inspired by the struggle of Essential Workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Our imagery of every day in New York City transformed into a dystopian reality. These paintings capture silent moments shared between rideshare drivers and I. COVID-19 brought about a heightened awareness of the social, political, and economic disparities between the races and classes worldwide. During the height of the Pandemic in NYC, these Essential Workers had created make-shift screens and installed them as a protective barrier in their cars. For me, the screen functions as a surface of mediation, protection, isolation, safety, and fear. It acts as a barricade and charged index that both separates and unites us. These paintings are about socioeconomic cognizance, self-indictment, longing and community.
“Turmoil”
Oil on Panel
By Lisa McCleary
Do you have a particular piece that you view as your most accomplished? Why?
My piece Untitled (07/16/2020) stands out to me as I feel that it perfectly captures the surreal nature of daily life in 2020 and the work of Essential workers who protect and serve us. The driver can be seen however his face is obscured by the screen. It also functions as a self-portrait in which a reflection of my masked face is seen. It captures the tension of the moment. The painting exhibits the gravity of being an Essential Worker. In order to serve the community and earn a wage, they are taking any and all measures to protect the community, themselves and their families.
This work was selected as a semi-finalist for the Smithsonian Outwin Boochever Portrait competition 2022 and is now currently hanging in the Irish Consulate in NYC.
“Heavy Silence”
Oil on Panel
By Lisa McCleary
Can you discuss why you chose Painting as a medium for your work Untitled (07/16/2020) as opposed to others?
My pieces are created through many-layered processes. In my practice, I usually start my works by creating temporal sculptures from which I photograph, meditate and paint. In 2020 when this image was taken, I felt that I needed to create a record of this unprecedented moment in history and capture the fear and isolation that we were all experiencing. This painting is particularly interesting to me as it highlights the dystopian sculptural element of the plastic screen used as a safety partition. I felt like I was in a sci-fi apocalyptic movie when NYC shut down, the streets were empty, and the make-shift screens started appearing. For this piece, I utilize oil painting as I felt it lent itself to what I was trying to capture; I wanted a realistic rendering of a surreal moment in history.
“I Planted the Seeds and Grew the Flowers; They Died Before You Had the Chance to See Them”
Oil on Panel
By Lisa McCleary
Have you experimented with other mediums?
I believe it is important to experiment with different materials if you have the means to, push the boundaries or your practice and allow space for failure. I have worked with charcoal, drawing, sculpture, photography, video, painting, collage, embroidery, and tapestry. I tend to use many of the mediums in the process of creating one work.
“This is How The Flesh Gets Tamed”
Oil on Aluminium
By Lisa McCleary
Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of painting your works?
The biggest lesson I have learned through the process of painting is that linseed oil is not a glazing medium and that it can really yellow a work if not used properly. I created a laboriously detailed oil painting, and I used a film of linseed to glaze the work before shipping it off to a show. I came back to the piece a few days later, it was sticky and yellow and had attracted all the lint in the room. I spent days doing conservatory work, it was a nightmare.
“This is How The Flesh Gets Tamed”
Oil on Aluminium
By Lisa McCleary
Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?
My work was recognized by the UK Sunday Times in 2020 and I was notified that I was included in their article “30 Under 30: Ireland’s Most Promising Artists.” Many creatives I look up to were featured, so it was really incredible to be alongside them in an article like that. Also, this year my work reached the semi-finalist round for the Smithsonian’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. My work was in the top 80 of almost 3000 incredible artists across America for their Triennial and was judged in several rounds by many incredible people. Being a US immigrant, it was a huge honour to have my work considered for the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.
In-Studio Shot of Lisa’s Palette
What projects are you working on currently? Can you discuss them?
I currently have a few upcoming projects in Mexico City in February for Art Week. I have my first solo show entitled, I Remember Touch at Shelf Gallery and Madereros Kitchen in San Miguel Chapultepec, CDMX. It will open on Wednesday, February 9th and will run for 3 months. The show includes my new series of oil paintings, prints and drawings that investigate the malleability of identity and the nature of the human spirit. I utilize abstract figuration, focusing on tactile manipulations of expression, to evoke highly ambivalent emotions and experiences. The works present reality as something that is not fixed but in a constant process of change.
I will also be exhibiting my work at a group exhibition Paralelas XIV at Oscar Roman Gallery, Polanco, CDMX which opens February 8th and at Cena Erótica, a culinary event at Hotel Matilda, San Miguel, Mexico on February 13th.
“Crawl”
Oil on Panel
By Lisa McCleary