Lisa DeLoria Weinblatt

Artist Statement

This series of artwork is visually focused on students’ everyday encounters and crucial relationships formed within an education setting. My more recent paintings are concerned with how students react to current social circumstances and experience society as a whole.
I am a figurative painter whose imagery is informed through direct observation, memory and personal experience. SCHOOL LUNCH is a visual essay of contemporary student life in real educational settings. The paintings in this series present images concerning the nature and passions of human relationships. Current cultural issues and their emotional attitudes are explored in the shared experience of school lunch. SCHOOL LUNCH is generated from observation, drawing on-site, in lunchrooms and campuses of High Schools and Colleges. Each individual in my paintings, drawn in the moment, is an actual person. The drawings are the genesis of my paintings. My compositions are developed from my perception of the atmosphere and environmental interactions. In my college exhibitions, I’m invited on campus as a ‘Resident /Visiting Artist.’
SCHOOL LUNCH 20 depicts a young woman pointing out to the viewer, possibly indicating it's up to those who are aware to step up and be the change we're looking for. There's a lighter mood within and successful personal connections.

SCHOOL LUNCH underlines perceptions which affirm cultural identity, brings together ideas espousing contemporary social, gender and political concerns while encouraging a belief in the quality of human spirit.