Rising Stars: Meet Lisa Levine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Levine. 

Lisa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a native New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn. I lived in the Bay Area for 30 years and moved to LA about 6 years ago to spend more time with my kids… My first encounter with photography was as a child. My brother and I used to turn our small Brooklyn apartment bathroom into a darkroom by exchanging the incandescent light bulb for a red safelight. Balancing trays of chemistry over a little sink we would make contact prints using Brownie negatives. These early encounters with photography were magical to me. Later, as a student at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan I was once again captivated by the magic of the medium and have remained so ever since. I went on to study photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York and did my graduate work in photography at CUNY Brooklyn College. For many years my kitchen or bathroom would double as a darkroom. Today I have come out of the dark and work mostly with digital photography but the magic of light impressions still fascinate and motivate me. 

Most of my work draws from the deeply embedded experience of my urban upbringing. The Swim series taps into the yearning I felt as a youngster to swim in a pool. There weren’t many opportunities for city kids to swim in pools during the hot summers and I dreamt of the freedom of movement and the refreshing cool of a turquoise blue pool. The Swim series also comes from my love of dance. I studied dance from my teens through college years and I am inspired by the work of choreographers like Mark Morris and Ohad Naharin who draw their movement vocabulary from folk dance and idiosyncratic vernacular movement. In the Swim series I look at the vernacular choreography of swimming; the way bodies move when water supports weight. Each person’s body responds to the water environment in a unique and sometimes quirky manner. This individual style of movement fascinates me. When composing the pieces, I look for patterns of movement and rhythms and how the subjects, the “dancers,” relate to each other in the overall choreography of the dance. I construct specific patterns of movement across the picture plane. I’m interested in how each dancer’s movements lead into, compliment, contrast, and punctuate the movements of the other. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Making a living as an artist is never a smooth road. And finding the motivation and drive to continue making art without accolades is something that many aspiring artists cannot weather. Recognition and appreciation of your work is never guaranteed so the drive to create art must be strong and come from within. The visual art market is very much a market driven by fashion, not unlike many other markets. I have never been a follower of trends and for many years there was not a consistent market for my work in galleries. Rather than cave to the pressures of art market fashion I decided to pursue public art commissions. My interest in public art is based on my enthusiasm for creating art that can enliven public spaces and reach audiences outside conventional art venues. This path has been very rewarding to me. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In recent years, I have been working on various public art commissions, creating large- scale artworks for public spaces. I am particularly enthusiastic about public art as it provides an opportunity for art to enliven and add beauty to spaces that people encounter as part of their daily lives. In this context the art can provide a bountiful visual experience presenting opportunities for reflection, contemplation, and discourse. These projects are also exciting because they have enabled me to actualize my work in many different types of materials and sometimes on quite large scales. Creating work for these projects has taken me to some interesting locations that I might not have visited on my own. I’ve photographed inside a refinery, on the deck of the Oakland Span of the Bay Bridge during both the construction of the new bridge and dismantling of the old and traveled to many cities I might not have ever visited to do work for universities, hospitals, transportation and health care environments. 

Aside from the public art commissions, I’m also quite pleased to be able to continue to pursue my personal work. This work is quite different from the commissioned work. When working on commissions it’s very important to respond to the community stakeholders and to produce something that the public feels is representational of their community. In my personal work I can continue to pursue the issues that are of deep interest to me personally. Both types of work are challenging and incredibly rewarding. I have provided some examples of my personal work here. More of this work can be seen on my website along with examples of the public artworks I’ve discussed. I also currently am exhibiting work at the UCLA Dortort Center for the Arts at Hillel as part of a show called Speak Memory where I am showing my Past Tense series. The show is up until December 9th. 

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I am a huge fan of Bari Weiss’ podcast, honestly. I look forward to each and every episode. Also, a fan of the Unorthodox podcast from Tablet Magazine which I read regularly. I also read Quillette Magazine and listen to their podcast regularly. Another absolute favorite podcast of mine is Sticky Notes. This is Joshua Weilerstein’s (conductor of the Phoenix Orchestra in Boston) podcast where he takes an in-depth look, each week, at pieces from the classical music repertoire from a conductor’s and, oftentimes, a performer’s perspective. 

As far as books are concerned, I am currently reading Dostoevsky’s Demons. It’s one of his works that I have never read and decided to read it after recently rereading The Idiot. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lisalevinephoto.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisalevinephoto/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaLevinephotography
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisalevinephoto

Image Credits
Lisa Levine