ARTIST STATEMENT
Lisa Nelson Raabe is a collage artist who creates an emotional sense of place by using pigments, metal filings, glass, bits of nature and thread in combination with acrylic mediums to transform color and texture.
Thai Kozo, Kinwashi and Unryu papers are pliable, highly absorbent, and responsive to both fluid media and dye and printing processes. Some pieces start with an eco dying in which the paper is treated with a mordant and the tannins in leaves and spent flowers dye the paper. Rusted metal imprints and bronze filings from the sculpture studio floor change from browns to blues with the addition of salt, ammonia and acrylic mediums. Thread imports geometric consistency against the spontaneous surface changes from the dye materials. Additional layers of paper obscure and reveal. The result is a transformation of material to an image that transcends its original nature.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lisa Nelson Raabe, MFA Bradley University, Peoria, IL 2021 has worked as an artist, art therapist, and yoga therapist, delving into the relationships between our bodies, stored emotion, thoughts, and memories. As a long-time textile artist, much of Lisa’s work has to do repetitive forms and processes, stitch by stitch, moment by moment, the creation of pliable planes, and experiments in material studies. Lisa lives with her husband, poet, and writer Burton Raabe and their cat Zorba.