Painter Lisa Ericson is described as “a versatile person who uses her visual talents as an artist, illustrator, and designer to create meaningful images.” Ericson’s stunning artworks manage to be both hyper-realistic and highly creative at the same time. In many ways, this perspective exemplifies exactly what is needed to tackle many of the most pressing problems we face today: a combination of pragmatism and creativity. Her obvious love and admiration for the complex genius of nature is immediately apparent when confronted with her work.
Characteristic of Erikson’s Art
All of her paintings are made in acrylic on wooden panels. Ericson, who likes to use the hard surface of the panels, uses multiple thin layers of paint to create the images. Depending on its size and detail, she spends three weeks to three months on a single painting.
Ericson’s ideas are often inspired by science but with a surreal twist. She says the animals in her paintings both represent the natural world and reflect her own human struggles and emotions. She likes to draw parallels between the two.
Ericson, who has been drawing and painting since a very young age, took her first art lesson when she was five years old. She studied art as an undergraduate at Yale University and currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Ecosystems Intertwine
In Lisa Ericson’s hyperrealistic acrylic paintings, ecosystems intertwine and mammals find themselves in an increasingly watery world. A rabbit and a mountain goat, typically found in dry climates or high altitudes, stand on a small island of cacti or rocks in an ongoing series of studies examining the climate crisis, specifically the impending rise in sea levels, from a perspective of the climate crisis. It offers us the lens of magical realism.
Leveraging the artistry of Chiaroscuro( In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted) and the contrast between bright figures and deep backgrounds, Ericson’s signature compositions look as if a spotlight has been directed onto the stage to highlight unusual interactions, such as a fox carrying bluebirds across a waterway or a stranded mountain goat. Furthering the idea that environmental change cannot be ignored, the titles speak of witnessing major change, experiencing a sense of foreboding, and heeding warnings.

Follow Ericson’s Art
Ericson drawings are certainly a special artistic vision with their excellence in quality, originality, design and content. Lisa Ericson draws hyperrealistic images of imaginary animals that intertwine genres.
You can see some of Ericson’s latest work at Antler Gallery in Portland, Oregon, and find more on her website and Instagram.


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