Biography

I am a Visual Artist

I am not a linear story

I am not a line

I am a sensuous curve

I tangle, I twist, I can

Seem to be hopelessly lost I transcend

I make beauty

I use words, brush, paint, canvas, paper

I am a Storyteller of the 21st century

Growing up in Toronto, Lisa Figueroa enjoyed life drawing for hours on Sunday afternoons at the Toronto School of Art. She was particularly fond of the “Canadian Room” at the Art Gallery of Ontario where, as a young adult, she could visit her favourite Canadian artists.

Lisa studied Classical Animation at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario graduating in 1982 and then attending George Brown College achieving a certificate in Commercial Art in 1983.

At the age of 21, Lisa travelled by train to Alberta for a wedding. Ever since then the mountains, lakes, rivers and evergreens of Western Canada have dominated her thoughts and have became her artistic inspiration - shortly thereafter she moved to the Shuswap.

The colours and movement of the Shuswap are full participants in her finished imagery, which is rich with design, vibrancy, beauty and joy.

Lisa enjoys the combo of hiking and seeing. The ability to walk in the beautiful places that Canada resonates with allows her to thrive in the present moment; knowing that the landscape will only look exactly as it does right now - every moment counts. This being truly alive … watching, listening and learning from nature is what Lisa thrives on. With each passing year Lisa’s desire to paint what she sees and feels grows. The beauty of Western Canada's mountainous areas, changing seasons and elemental variations is the magic that inspires Lisa's creativity day after day and year after year.

Lisa creates at the Salmon Arm Arts Centre where she is the artist in Residence and operates the Lisa Figueroa Studio/Gallery. She lives in Sicamous with her husband in a cedar shingled home that hugs the mountainside and dips to the water.

See Lisa’s C.V. for a more detailed breakdown of her history.

“When I’m making art I am happy. Making art is a full time vocation for me. I feel totally alive and in my element when creative energy flows through me. My subject matter varies: portraits, nudes, florals, landscapes, birds, salmon and non-representational imagery but the common thread through all my work is: bold colour, movement and always a storyline. Without a story the painting lacks a personality; personality and a dose of panache are everything to me. When someone stops and stares at my painting I know they are intrigued by the look of the image but also they are engaged by the life force of the work; the story that must be seen. I am fully alive and engaged in my life; my art is an autobiographical telling of the paths my life has taken me down. ”

— Lisa