Lisa Flowers Ross hand-dyes fabrics to create her contemporary and abstract textile art. She enjoys working in a series to explore abstraction, the intersections of lines and implied transparency through color.
Why fiber art? How did you get started?
I haven’t always worked with fiber. In college, I earned my bachelor’s of art degree with a concentration in drawing, along with a business degree. Over the years after graduating, I dabbled with different media, not settling on anything. I was also not putting in consistent committed time on my art, as I had odd jobs before I had my daughter. When my daughter was in elementary school, I voluntarily taught the art lessons once a week for her class as they did not have an art teacher at that time.
When my daughter started going to middle school, I had more time to work on my own art. I didn’t start working in fabric until my friend asked if I wanted to take a quilting class. I said yes and we made a nine-patch queen size quilt. Then, I found a book about art quilting and I thought I could try making my own art in fabric. In 2002, I made my first original art quilt. It was quite primitive as the sewing skills I had were learned in middle school home economics classes. I took some sewing lessons, workshops and read lots of books for techniques.
Eventually, I wanted to make my own fabric color palette and learned how to dye my own fabrics. I continued to work in the medium. Dedicated time in the studio over the years has led me to develop my colorful abstract style.
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When it comes to creating, are you more of a planner or an improviser?
I now mostly plan out my artworks, especially the larger ones where I want to have specific intersections meeting. In the beginning, I did try to work more improvisationally, but I felt like I was wasting more fabric that way. The natural environment is very important to me and I am always trying to cut down on my waste. With a pattern that I draw, I can cut out the exact piece and fit it as best I can onto the fabric. Once all the pieces are up on my design wall, I do sometimes replace a piece with a different color. But overall, I feel I save more fabric this way.
On smaller fused artworks, I don’t start with a plan. I cut pre-fused fabrics and move them around. This is a different way of working for me and is my time to play. Since the pieces are small, it’s not a big waste if one doesn’t turn out.
Do you use a sketchbook or journal? How does that help your work develop?
I do use a sketchbook for ideas. I draw very small thumbnails with design ideas, sometimes I draw them over and over changing the angle of a line or some small thing. I will also write words for some ideas or make word notations of colors.
Lately, I have been doing more sketching on my iPad using Procreate. I still usually start with a thumbnail sketch from my sketchbook that I have taken a picture of and imported into the program. Then, I can refine my lines and it is easier to change the arc, the angle, etc. in the program. I also like to start with one line drawing and then make a copy that I can work on further and change more dramatically into a new design.
Once I have a design in ProCreate, then I can also play with the value selection, trying different values in different shapes to see what I like best before even getting to the fabric. I don’t usually play with color selections within the program because most of the time a have a color scheme in my head. The values are the most important, then I can pull fabric colors based on lights to darks.
Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?
There is inspiration everywhere. I find most of my inspiration in nature and landscapes, but anything can inspire me.
Currently, I have two major series (and several smaller ones) that I have been working on for years. My Field Studies series is a body of artworks that are inspired by real locations around the western United States. (I’m hoping to eventually expand to territory beyond.) They are abstracted landscapes devoid of figures and buildings, for now.
For this series, I explore natural areas and take lots of pictures. I have participated in several artist residencies in remote natural locations to gain inspiration for this series.
The second major series I have been working on for years is my Leaf Stack series. The artworks in this series have certain simple parameters within which I am working. I use a simple leaf shape (which is not always obvious) to explore abstraction, intersections of lines and implied transparency through color.
Asking “What can I do?” within these parameters keeps the series going. Throughout the first 50 pieces, I only played with line as an element in a small percentage of the pieces. After #50, I am using more lines to outline the shapes and now starting to play more with changing the colors within the lines.
Here are some examples:
Leaf Stack #30 has a few lines but they are not encompassing all the shapes. This is also the only piece in the series where I broke up the solid color of a section with different fabrics (something more to explore if I choose to later).
In Leaf Stack #46, which is a smaller fused artwork mounted on board, all the shapes are outlined in the same color.
In Leaf Stack #52, I also outlined all the shapes but the lines have several different colors with similar values (which makes it hard to see in the image).
Working on Leaf Stack #53, I took that even further and changed the colors within a continuous line.
For Leaf Stack #54, I wanted to try working with found fabrics. This is a transition I have been considering. Since taking care of the natural environment is so important to me, it makes sense to use found fabrics that might otherwise get thrown away (especially since we have a lot of fast fashion). The artwork includes fabric from pants, shirts, table linens and commercial fabric, which also means it has some prints, another new aspect in the series and one I need to come to grips with (or not).
Do you enter juried shows? Do you approach your work differently for these venues?
Yes, I do enter juried exhibitions. Mostly, I will apply to those that are multi-media or to Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) exhibitions. In general, I do not make work specifically for an exhibition. I will look at the theme, if there is one, and see if my work applies. I prefer to work in my series or develop my own ideas instead of working to someone else’s theme. However, it is not totally out of the question.
Recently, I made an artwork for Fierce Planets, an SAQA exhibition in conjunction with John Hopkins University. I was interested in this because my daughter received an undergraduate degree in astrophysics and is currently in graduate school working on her PHD. I was able to look through her textbooks and ask her for ideas. The artwork I completed is called Titan Swath. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon. The image is based on a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) image from Cassini’s Titan Radar Mapper taken on June 21, 2011, as part of the Cassini-Huygens Mission, a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. And I am happy to say that it was juried into the exhibition which will travel to different venues.
Where can people see your work?
People can view my artworks on my website at LisaFlowersRoss.net and on Instagram @lisaflowersross. I have an e-newsletter in which I show my most current works and share upcoming exhibition information (you can sign up here). Also, I have artworks are in several traveling SAQA exhibitions (Art Evolved: Intertwined, Fierce Planets, Abstraction: Textural Elements) and a few more of my works can be found in the Juried Artist Profiles section of the SAQA website.
I am also an artist member of the Capitol Contemporary Gallery in Boise, Idaho, as well as a member of Boise Open Studio Collective Organization (BOSCO). BOSCO has an annual open studio event the first two weekends in October where artists open their studios for visitors. Currently, I have some of my Leaf Stack series on display in the local offices of Boise Group Real Estate.
Interview posted December 2024
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