ABOUT “SURROUNDINGS”

“Surroundings, Daydreaming in the Chaos” by Lisa D. Watson is an artistic journey that deepens our understanding of structures, landscapes, and the narratives of all things—animal, mineral, or plant—that call the land home and strive to safeguard wild spaces in their unique settings. Watson utilizes mixed-media collage, paintings, installations, and ceramic sculpture to portray her perceptions. Lesser-known places are depicted in the exhibit which are infused with daydreams of achieving balance between man-made infrastructure and the wilderness. These imaginative transformations convey a longing for environmental harmony and a vision for positive change.

ABOUT LISA D. WATSON

Lisa D. Watson is a Georgia-based artist and gardener who channels her environmental concerns into every project. Her assemblage artworks are composed of 90% reclaimed materials, including paper products, metal, industrial wood, produce netting, and more. With over 25 years of experience using recycled objects as her medium, she is committed to pursuing a fully sustainable artistic practice.

Her work has been exhibited nationally in solo exhibitions: Most recently, Avant Gardener (toured for 9 months) Sulfur Studios, Savannah, GA; The Coastal Discovery Museum, Hilton Head, SC; The Averitt Center for the Arts & IAB Gallery at Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA. Also, Interurban, Brassworks, Montclair, NJ; Right to Vote, Pop-Up, Los Angeles, CA; Deer Humans, The Studios of Key West, FL; Cemento Armato, Florence County Museum, SC and Avanguardia, Telfair Museum's Jepson Center, Savannah, GA. Subsequently, both The Jepson Center and The Coastal Discovery Museum purchased artworks, Convergence and Pitfalls in Potholes, for their permanent collections.

LDW works out of her Savannah studio and lives with her husband, Don along with two rescued cats and a Shih Tzu.

ARTIST STATEMENT

In 2023, I completed a 9-month touring ecological art exhibition which took me 2 years to create. It was successful in so many ways and I hope the project convinced people to make better environmentally friendly decisions when it comes to their landscapes. Once it was completed, I decided to relax for a while because I’ve been advocating for the environment for over 4 decades.

I took time to work on images I have photographed over the last few years. Photographing a structure or landscape is one thing, recreating it by painting, collaging and sculpting the subject really instills my understanding of how it or they stand and thrive. There is a tale of those who built on or occupied a small piece of land whether they are human, plant life or wildlife.

I find myself telling stories from boots on the ground biologists who are finding ways to protect untouched wild areas. But I also have this incredible urge to document a strange little house on a busy street in Los Angeles, a grassy curve along a freeway interchange in Savannah and my own backyard habitat. These Surroundings may be mundane to you, but not to me. I find the rarely seen places around the country and abroad so much more interesting than tourist hotspots.

I often alter the story; “daydreaming through the chaos,” because I’m continuously thinking of ways to save our indigenous animals, flora and the few remaining untouched wild areas. These alterations reflect my lifelong environmental wishes. They are possible solutions to create balance between man-made infrastructure and the wild. I guess until I see positive environmental changes by humans, I can’t really relax.