Meet Alissa

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alissa a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alissa, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I think my purpose found me and it was always there. From young childhood, my earliest memories were of creating art. I had teachers along the way that encouraged me and that helped, but it was a way I could get what was inside me “out.” I’m not the best at explaining myself, telling stories and art allowed me to do that in my own way.
During high school, I was primarily in Paris, France. Other students were being practical when asked the question what do you want to do with your life, who do you want to be? I remember feeling lost because I didn’t have a practical answer. Everything that I kept imagining seemed boring. What finally occurred to me was that art was my answer, it was what made me have purpose.
Going to museums and learning the stories of artists and how they “became” working artists gave me something to feel more secure about choosing art as a career. College was full of learning and I felt like I could have stayed longer and learned more but practicality didn’t allow that. Upon moving home post graduation, my mother told me I had to start making money.
Where we lived didn’t have much of an art community beyond retirees that did art. I didn’t have any models to follow and I fell into retail for years.
In 2013 I returned home to take care of my mother and 2 years later she passed away. It took time to process that grief, but I came away with “you only live once.” Why was I denying my purpose, my art? I then made the decision to work as a full time artist and it was an instant change in how I felt daily. I had something to say and was doing that visually.
Even with the challenges of being in a field that is as different as all the art in it, with the stress of making money, even with artist blocks…. It makes me feel whole.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m a mixed media artist. I began just painting but as someone that loves to learn new things, I began incorporating other media into my work. I had always enjoyed ceramics as a child, did a little in college, but have really taken to doing it on my own the past few years. Painting is my first love, but I want to challenge myself to do something unique and I’ve been exploring combing the two media.

Theme-wise I have been drawn to exploring feminism and femininity. Some of my most vivid childhood memories are ones of being told because I was a “pretty girl” that was enough. Competition has always been in my blood and memories of beating boys in sports and their reactions always stuck with me. They were embarrassed to have lost to a girl. It’s been frustrating as an adult, entering the work force and discovering wide wage gaps between me and my male co-workers. Going through museums and seeing the stories of male artists succeeding, with foot notes of their wives and mistresses taking care of them. It all added fuel to the fire for me. How I have tried to explore this has changed over the years, and I expect it will still morph into something else, but that has what has been the challenge I enjoy.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Learning the history, learning to become more patient with myself, and taking the time to learn new skills that aren’t directly related to painting.
My advice would to slow down, don’t be in such a rush and take the time and enjoy learning. Try new mediums- even if they don’t relate directly to what you do, they still have an impact upon your work. I get inspired by new techniques, try to see how people do things and eventually some of what I learned makes it back into my work and it is made mine because I added something new to something I already had.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

Just over a year ago, I finally made the decision to move to Asheville, NC. I had struggled finding an art community in Chapel Hill that I felt comfortable being myself. I’m not a nature artist, I like pushing myself and I just felt stunted by staying there. I moved to Asheville and had already felt a release, a freedom in what was possible. Then came Hurricane Helene…
I lost about 20 pieces in the space I was in with the flood. I found a few pieces digging through the aftermath with other artists, but it’s not the same. What the change was in spite of all the loss and destruction, was the instant bond, community I felt with all the other artists. The community was hurt but determined to rebuild stronger. As someone that was just trying to create a name for myself here, I immediately felt scared that I had lost everything I had started building since I had moved. I’m finding that hasn’t been the case. I had garnered enough attention that another gallery that hadn’t been hurt by the flood gave me a small space to show some work. They also offered me more space after building more wall space, so that will happen shortly. Rebuilding is happening, and the large building I was in is structurally sound, so they have been working on that getting ready to reopen this summer.
My growth in this last year, especially these last 6 months has been acceptance of the situation around me, and with patience learning to take these obstacle and move past them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alissavanatta.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alissa_avaarts/
• Other: https://bsky.app/profile/alissa-avaarts.bsky.social