Featured Artist: Lisa Frost
as told to Asha Iman Veal for Arts Alliance Illinois (June 2020)
Each Little Movie took several days.
When I developed each idea, I started by sketching ideas in storyboard format, thinking about each movement and message. I then painted and textured the papers, and backdrops. Once the paint dried, I started cutting and developing the characters. Next, I set up the lighting and the stage. I used my camera and did a few ‘dress rehearsals.’ Once I had the pictures I liked, I edited and tested them afterward. The technology, was always challenging and included occasional production errors.
Although I have been an artist my entire life, I am self taught when it comes to film. In this new genre, I feel open and brave, but also vulnerable. Maybe that adds to the work a level of ‘sweetness.’
Lisa Frost
visual artist
I kept my eyes and heart open and started paying attention to what was happening around me.
I watched how my family and friends were feeling. I watched things like local business owners struggling to reopen with new guidelines, people wearing masks, spring graduations cancelled.... I saw everyone around me feeling uncertain, confused, and scared as we watched the news circuit and stayed glued to social media.
So I turned to my art. I created a little movie ‘Stay Home.’ This was right as the Governor started to enforce the stay-at-home order. The movie shows my own family coming home, going inside the house, and staying put. But in the very last frame, Momma puts a heart on the door to symbolize that ‘everything is gonna be alright.’
In 2018, I read the book In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art (Sue Roe).
I learned how fascinated Picasso was with theater, movement, dancers, and silent films as an art. I wondered, if Picasso was alive today how enthralled he would be with all the access to technology. After that, I took a course to learn more about the art of storytelling. These two experiences collectively started me on this path of trying stop-motion animation. I’d wanted to incorporate new technology, movement, and storytelling into my work.
I was inspired by cut-paper books. I started making hand-painted papers in all kinds of colors and textures. I laid them all over the floor. I started cutting. I practiced filming. I played with shape, color, texture, movement, rhythm, variety, unity, plus all the technological platforms. I was developing a style. It was so exciting! A whole new realm of art making. I learned a lot. It was a labor of love and very time consuming. Then I put it away for about a year and a half...until the pandemic.
I especially enjoyed working on ‘Get Creative at Home.’ I liked the composition, and it had a lot of parts.
I love the thought that we all have something so special inside of us. And maybe the pandemic has helped people to reconnect with that specialness.
‘Oh Mama’ is definitely a favorite as well. Also, many people have written to me that they were deeply touched by it and that it warmed a place in their heart. I feel very grateful that the message of the various stages of motherhood could come through in such a simple yet powerful way.
Also, I felt so thrilled working on the piece for G. Love. I loved learning all about his message of just ‘throw your hands up in the air and shake your hair.’ I love his little boy, the chickens on his property, his sweet wife with a baby in a sling. He and I have a similar message about keeping people up and lifting spirits. So it felt natural. Also, I enjoyed the ‘Graduation’ piece at the University of Illinois, and making the alma mater come to life.
Working with other artists is a dream.
Award-winning composer, Emily Bear is also from Rockford and reached out to me wanting to create an original musical score for ‘Rolling in this Together.’ Little Movie. I felt completely honored. Also, Philadelphia-based musical artist G.Love featured clips of my Little Movies into his new music video compilation by director Steve Jawn and The 10:10 Creative. It was featured on RollingStone.com
Really, my career as a visual artist feels like it’s just beginning—even though I’ve been active for forty-five years. My work, focuses on celebrations and their unyielding joy. The Little Movies Projects catches us in small moments, yet also finds us sitting at its feet in our larger moments. In each case, I approach my subjects with a playful spirit and color and pattern and brushstroke. I want my impact to be joyous and fortifying.
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