Lisa Franke, Artist

 

Hello and welcome to the 38th 3 Art Questions With Jackson interview! This time I interviewed super talented Minnesota based artist Lisa Franke. I have loved her haunting art since the first time I saw it and my Dad and I once talked about her Gallery 360 show on ArtHounds on MPR. I called her art dream like then and I think that is still accurate. I love her answers and I think you will too! Thank you for reading! (Image 1: Grow Strong and Reach the Sky (for Lulu) mixed media and encaustic in vintage film holder. Image 2: Release, mixed media and encaustic in vintage film holder. Images courtesy of the artist)

Jackson: What inspired you to begin making the art you make now? Did your art change after you became a parent?

Lisa: I guess that is a question with a long timeline. The first time I remember being really drawn in by a piece of art was in elementary school. On a trip to the Des Moines Art Center I saw Talisman by Robert Rauschenberg. I remember just staring at it and wondering what it all meant. I loved that it was mysterious. It made a real impact on me. Later in life I think it inspired the collection of vintage photographs and random treasures I found at flea markets. I was just drawn to them without a clue what I would do with any of them at the time. I guess I felt badly that these images had lived a life and were being abandoned...I wanted to tell their story somehow. After Lulu was born, I think my art has become more intuitive. Art always has a winding path to its final destination, but I think I enjoy the twists and turns more. I have more patience to let it evolve to where it wants to go.

Jackson: Has the global pandemic changed the way you make your art? Have you lost any opportunities in the last 18 months? 

Lisa: These past 18 months have impacted everyone in one way or another. For me, it was tough to process everything going on especially with a high school senior. The pandemic hasn't really changed the WAY I make art, but it was harder to create. My focus became my family and I think just emotionally drained me. I've been quietly processing everything inside and just lately have started letting some of that out into making new art. Keeping busy with design work was also a focus over the last 18 months. I think we all have lost opportunities along the way, but sometimes it means another door opens and that's how you keep going.

Jackson: If you could meet any artist living or dead, who would it be and why?

Lisa: Wow, that's any easy answer. It would of course be Robert Rauschenberg. I admire his work, his work ethic, his curiosity, and his love for life in general. I would have been so excited to have watched him work or walk with him to see what would catch his eye and why. He looked at everything and everybody in a positive way. He also allowed interpretation to his art which I absolutely love. We are all different with different experiences so if you find a connection to something I've made that is completely different than the personal story I created it from, that makes me happy. I feel I'm successful if someone is drawn to a piece I've made and doesn't even know why. That means they are creating their own story and that gives new life to the fragments I used within it.