Lisa LaRose says that pop surrealistic paintings are at the heart of her artistic practice. But she’s more than a painter. The Vancouver artist also creates comic books (Rise of the White Phoenix) and illustrates children’s graphic novels (Ghoster Heights). She also designs products such as mousepads, puzzles, apparel, and desk mats that she creates from her paintings.
“Occasionally, I do commissions,” LaRose tells Pancouver in an interview at Granville Island. “My primary work is to make art and then sell things.”
Her vivid and imaginative works sometimes include skeletons, resolute women, animals, and other images from nature. On occasion, her paintings venture into the apocalyptic. At other times, they extend into fantasy or embody a sublime serenity.
One of her more sublime works, Snakery Bakery, is on display on a large Lunar New Year Lantern on the south side of the Vancouver Art Gallery. LaRose’s lantern features a bunch of colourful snakes slithering in and around a collection of donuts. This is LaRose’s way of slaying stereotypes about these feared reptiles.
“Snakes are often depicted as something really scary or intense in artwork,” LaRose says. “So, I wanted to create something really cute and colourful.”
LaRose’s design is one of 10 artistic lanterns in the We Are Family Exhibition in 800 Robson Plaza until February 18. The Lantern City curated these artworks to welcome the Year of the Snake.
She acknowledges that a great deal of planning went into this painting. That’s because she wanted to ensure that different species of snakes were represented. LaRose also went out of her way to depict a wide variety of decorations on the donuts.
“I just amped up my colours to the top for this one,” the artist says with a laugh. “I wanted to create something that had a ton of joy in it.”
Meanwhile, the Lantern City is presenting other artistic lanterns at Granville Island, the Bentall Centre, Pendulum Gallery, and šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square.
LaRose studied video-game art
LaRose has been doing art since her childhood growing up in Edmonton. It wasn’t until she took aptitude tests in high school that she considered making it a career
“I thought that maybe, I was going to go into something in math,” LaRose reveals. ‘I didn’t realize that there were so many different kinds of jobs that you can have as an artist.”
To pursue her dreams, she moved to Vancouver to study video-game art. LaRose then worked in this field for a few years before venturing more deeply into illustration, initially as a freelancer. Now after 15 years, she makes her living as an independent artist and selling merchandise.
“So, the snake-in-donut painting is very on-brand for what I would regularly do,” LaRose says. “I’m going to be making puzzles out of it later.”
The We Are Family exhibition is at 800 Robson Plaza until February 18. To see examples of Lisa LaRose’s art and merchandise, visit her website or her Etsy page. You can also follow her on Instagram @lisalaroseart.
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