Xolo de Jose Guadalupe Posada

Lisa McElroy

I’m a collage and assemblage artist and have held many jobs, including making comics, writing, filmmaking, working in nonprofit arts administration, building websites, and self-taught punk-rock drumming. After years of volunteer-teaching art in the MDUSD school system and working as a docent for the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, I started making art fulltime. I was inspired by the combination of art curriculum and curated exhibitions, along with watching children make art, including my son, a great graphic designer by age 8. My art appears in galleries and museums, including The de Young Open 2023.

Though I’ve always made art since early childhood, my educational background is in film production and I spent years working on commercial and independent projects, as well as at Matte World Digital, a VFX production house. I have an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University and continue to work on independent projects. Recently my illustrations were animated in the feature, 39 ½, and the short satire, The Callback, both directed by Kara Herold. After co-writing The Callback, we continued our writing partnership with the short surreal comedy, Eat, Pray, Give up, to be released in 2027.

Resume (PDF)

Lisa-McElroy_Resume

MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST

Category: Visual Artist

Style: Visual Arts : Collage/Construction

Medium: Mixed Media

Artist Statement

Please provide a brief description of your creative process, motivations, and inspirations:

My mixed-media collage work is psychedelic folk art inspired by the natural world, pioneering creative visionaries, independent musical movements, B-movie glam, TV schlock and comics. Materials include painted papers, clay, wood, textiles, abandoned books, discarded objects junk mail. For my 2D work, I use acrylic, watercolor, drawing tools, sometimes digital techniques. Drawing from my background in comics, classic Hollywood studio knowledge, and underground art movements, my work skews toward unusual combined materials to create witty worlds with a sense of the absurd. I have a background in film production and I continue to write and illustrate for independent film projects.