lisa ostapinski

Artist in Residence: july — august 2019

Lisa Ostapinski is a painter and art educator based in Oakland, CA. Ostapinski holds a BA in art from Mills College, Oakland, and an MA in art education from the Teachers College, New York. She is an art educator to both children and adults and exhibits her work nationally.    

Ostapinski’s work is an exploration of the spiritual realm through abstract form and luminous materials. Her imagery pulls from a diverse array of sources, including textile design, architecture, modern painting, the natural world, scientific illustration, religious painting and occult symbolism. Her work juxtaposes archaic media with modern forms, producing a contemporary take on historical art techniques. She chooses lustrous, visually rich materials such as gold leaf and beeswax and traditional processes such as encaustic painting, sgraffito, and oil paint marbling. The natural beauty of these materials and the historical use of these techniques in European religious painting evokes the divine in Ostapinski’s contemporary work.