Meet Lissa de Sailles IAVA’s newest member. We asked Lissa a few getting to know you questions.
What was your earliest memory of an interaction with Art?
I had many encounters with art as a child but one memory stands out when I went to the NSW Art Gallery as a young teenager on my own and I saw 'The visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon by Edward John Poynter'.
How would you describe your art practice?
My art practice has taken many paths and over the last fifteen years I've focused mainly on learning and developing skills in traditional and contemporary basketry both locally and internationally. I'm influenced by the slow craft movement and sustainability, although it's often hard not to buy materials especially paper products that I love working with.
Things that influence my work could be just about anything at the moment, from objects, animals, innards, plants, landscapes, physics and architecture. I like to think of my current evolving works as a “Cabinet of My Curiosities”. I choose my subject matter because it is something I find of interest and have a need to learn more about and explore. Creating these works is a way of recording information, a way of learning for me and sharing my interest in these curiosities. These curios and information gathered can end up being examples of the physical to the psychological, or maybe just some interesting illustration.
Do you have a favourite artist and/or artwork? What is it that makes them your favourite?
I have many favourite artists and it's hard to choose one because my interests are so broad. I like the work of Eva Hesse and Rosalie Gascoigne because they both used materials found at hand in their work. I like they way they both used a minimalist aesthetic to speak volumes about the world around them.
Most recent adventure or achievement?
In late 2024 I spent eleven weeks in the USA teaching fibre art and basketry workshops while juggling my first year university studies. This year I just completed my second year in visual art and am majoring in sculpture and drawing.
Any current goals you’re working towards?
Next year I will focus on finishing my uni degree while juggling the usual workload of making new work while I try and renovate my house. But housework and rennos can always wait while there is art to be made!
Lissa de Sailles in her studio