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Lisa’s House, quilt.

Born from the Borderlands

Lisa Marie Barber

Most artists will tell you they started creating when they were very young, influenced by school projects, craft materials found in their houses, and the artwork that surrounded them. I was not different. However, I didn’t realize until I pursued art in formal academic settings that the influences woven through my artwork were very different from what my professors and peers were accustomed to. My work was "too busy," had "too many colors and patterns," and did not align with contemporary Western craft’s definition of refinement. Of course, this was 30 years ago; I like to believe that aesthetic biases against this type of work have lessened.

During my time as an art student in the 1990s, professors were supportive and seemed confident in my potential, but we simply couldn’t connect on what my work was supposed to look like. I tried to pare down the colors. I tried to simplify. Nothing hit their mark – or at least satisfied many offering critiques and advice. About two months into my MFA degree program, my committee and I were talking, and, for some reason, I brought up my Mexican heritage and where I was from – Tucson, AZ. Everything changed. From then on, my professors didn’t try to change my art and style; they recognized my work as being a product of a culture and environment that, unfortunately, often reside outside the mainstream of contemporary art. I am still grateful to those professors today for being cognizant of their biases and presumptions and for validating my differences. I learned a great deal, not only about how my background shaped me but also about how it wasn’t very familiar to many in the higher echelons of fine art.

Mexican Folk Art and Shrines: Presence and Influence

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Author Bio

Lisa Marie Barber

Originally from Tucson, AZ, Lisa earned her BS in sociology with a minor in art at Northern Arizona University (1992) and her MFA from the University of Texas at Austin (1998). She is currently a full professor in the Department of Art and Design at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, where she teaches and serves as the Community Liaison in the Arts. Prior to her professorship, she worked as a university and youth art instructor in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Lisa’s aesthetic sensibility is rooted in Central American folk art and the Mexican Catholic shrines of her heritage and upbringing in Tucson. Deliberate with showcasing the handmade quality of her work, she uses low-tech methods to create large assemblage ceramic sculptures and installations, as well as mixed media quilts. Her work encompasses imagined conceptions of home, gardens, peacefulness, playfulness, and celebration. She strives to make her work accessible to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
In addition to exhibiting nationally with over fifty solo and two-person exhibitions to her credit, Lisa has held artist-in-residence positions at the City University of New York, Hunter College; the Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis; Watershed Center for Ceramic Art, Newcastle, ME; the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE; the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; the Mendocino Art Center, California; and the Clay Studio of Missoula, Montana. She has received numerous honors and led workshops from New York to California.

A full listing of her exhibition record, awards, and related activities can be …

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