Lisa Gizara’s art blends explosive abstract paintings with haunting black-and-white photography. Guided by intuition, emotion, and persistence, her work invites viewers into meditative, mysterious landscapes of chaos and serenity alike.
1. Your work spans both explosive abstract paintings and mysterious black-and-white photography. How do you decide which medium to use for a particular idea or emotion?
Painting is a deeply emotional experience for me. It brings me the greatest joy, and yet, at the same time, it can be profoundlyexhausting. When the intensity becomes too much, and I need to step away, I reach for my camera. Photography offers me another way to create—one that is quieter, less emotionally charged, yet still deeply fulfilling. There is great satisfaction in making a beautiful photograph while being able to maintain quieter way of creating beauty.
2. Many of your photographs use infrared film to reveal hidden aspects of landscapes. What draws you to this invisible spectrum, and how does it influence your creative process?
Working with infrared cameras and films is truly a mysterious visual treasure hunt. When I come upon a scene that calls to me, after I shoot it, I never know how it will reveal itself. The image only emerges later, back in the studio, as I work with it. This uncertainty mirrors my painting practice, especially in abstraction. Abstract painting is unpredictable and intuitive—it feels as though something moves through me rather than coming from me. Similarly, when I see a scene that takes my breath away, I have to stop, pause, and try to capture it.
3. Your artwork has appeared on sets of major TV shows and in the private collections of actors like Jennifer Lawrence and Bruce Dern. How has working with Hollywood impacted your artistic vision or approach?
After getting my fine arts degree, I moved to Los Angeles from a small town in Massachusetts. I worked as an on-set still photographer for television and film sets, eventually moving into public relations and event photography. The diverse and fascinating Hollywood industry supported my art practice and opened up an exciting, creative, and very satisfying way for me to make a living, all the while allowing me to build my own personal body of artwork.
4. Abstract expressionism and romantic realism both seem to inspire your paintings. How do you balance chaos and serenity within a single piece?
For me, the act of painting is a constant push and pull. Often, the painting leads, and I blindly follow. It often becomes a dance— incorporating my raw, expressive, and unpredictable painterly gestures. Followed by moments of quiet refinement, in an ongoing effort to make sense of the creative chaos. Sometimes the painting opens itself willingly; other times it resists, challenging me until the very end.
5. Reflecting on your journey, what were some of the biggest challenges you faced as an artist, and how did you overcome them?
My greatest challenge has always been time—protecting it, honoring it, and trusting the journey. I always chose part-time work so I could paint, even though it meant living with financial uncertainty. For much of my younger life, I flew by the seat of my pants, guided more by the necessity to create than by the security of money. In doing so, I carved out the space to build a 35-year archive of paintings, drawings, and photographs. All of my work has been made through persistence, trust, and an unwavering need to create.
6. For viewers new to your work, what is the experience or feeling you hope people take away when they see a Gizara painting or photograph?
I hope people who see my work will feel the passion that lives within each piece. I pray it invites them to slow down, to breathe, and to enter a quiet, meditative space. If my work offers my viewers a moment of calm reflection, then I am very grateful.
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