Featured Artist of the Quarter
Lisa Lichtenfels: Is There Anyone to Compare?
by Maralyn Christoffersen

"No praise is too much for Lisa Lichtenfels. Her pieces are major commentaries about life. The technical, psychic, and spiritual exploration of her work is beyond that of any other doll artist. She ranks high among today's artists of any medium. She opens a window through which we are privileged to look." John Darcy Noble - Curator Emeritus of the Toy Museum of the City of New York.

The doll, in Lisa's psyche, is a magical figure, evoking emotional power in the observer. Andrew Wyeth once said, "I think one's art goes as far and as deep as one's love goes." Lisa Lichtenfels loves the art of the doll. Her incredible figures of cloth bring the form of the doll to fine art.

Lisa creates from life, translating to human form all those people one might see at a theater, beach, cafe, on a street. Or perhaps, in a far off country or tribe, or in a flight of fancy. Her dolls speak to the spirit, conveying all elements found within -- joy, abandon, wisdom, enticement, peace, tranquillity -- all those components of ourselves. She sculpts absolute reality and portrait likeness, inspiring total awe in the beholder.

Lisa's expertise has developed and sharpened during a long career. Abandoning dance lessons at age six for the art school "upstairs", she began studying oil painting. She attended the Philadelphia College of Art receiving a dual degree in Illustration and Film. At that time she met Judy Jampell, a popular illustrator of the l970s, a pioneer of soft sculpture techniques. To pay off student loans, Lisa moved to Burbank, California and worked as a Disney animator. While there she was eed to the Animatronics division where figures that move are made for Disney theme parks. She developed a more natural mechanism for Animatronics, discovering the perfect internal construction for soft sculpture. A brief vacation from animation to create dolls has lasted over 18 years.

Construction of Lisa's figurative sculpture is elaborate and labor intensive. She brings profound, technical application of anatomy to a functional, internal wire skeleton which is built up with batting and white nylon to provide muscle and flesh. It is then covered with a layer, sometimes multiple layers, of specially dyed nylon "skin". These layers are often complex for special color effect. Some figures have seven or more layers worked into the final form. The skeleton is then locked into position and the sculpture, ranging from 3' to life-size, is complete -- to laugh, dance, leap, gaze, to penetrate your soul.

In Lisas hands and mind, a doll transcends being a plaything, becoming elaborate, stunning, powerful art. Recently asked what she would if she could no longer sculpt dolls, she replied: "My whole world is sculpture. It is where I live. I will never give it up. It is my home." Those who are fortunate enough to experience her figures agree entirely. Lisa Lichtenfels is a doll artist exemplar.

Lisa became a member of NIADA in 1985. She is also a gifted photographer, catching every delicate nuance of her figurative sculptures on film. She is a much sought after teacher, sharing her knowledge of the art of the doll. She was awarded The Jumeau Award for Leading Female Artist at the Fourth World Congress, 1994, in Paris France. Her dolls are in collections and museums worldwide such as the Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art, Bellevue, WA, and the Erie Pennsylvania Art Museum where one can enjoy The Avalon Restaurant, a diorama.

Lisa Lichtenfels
POB 90537
Springfield, MA 01139-0537
T: 413 781-1359
F: 413 731-9053
Web: http://home.earthlink.net/~jcarruth/

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