Artist Member
Positive Vibrations, 2022
Hinged Leporello format book and banner, drypoint monoprints, artist handmade paper, monoprints
book 8 x 32″ (open) banner 2½ x 21½” (open)
Collection of Hampshire College Library
Craving Shelter, 2022
Pair of hinged Leporello format books, collage with monotype prints and artist text
12 x 48″ (open) 4 x 40″ (open)
Sunken Garden, 2021
Hinged Leporello format book, collage with monotyope prints and handmade paper
6 x 36″ (open)
Elisa Lanzi 
www.elisalanzi.com
@elisalanziartist on Instagram
BIO
Elisa Lanzi is a visual artist working at the intersection of printmaking, collage, hand papermaking and poetry. As a 15+ year member of Zea Mays Printmaking Studio (Florence, MA), she is skilled in multiple green printmaking practices. Raised in an artistic family, Elisa has created art through study and practice since her early years. Her art history and literature studies were accompanied by studio work and advanced by apprenticeships and workshops. Elisa’s formative papermaking experience was at Trout Paper, a hand-papermaking atelier in Washington County, NY. Over the past several years she has added book making to her artistic repertoire.
Elisa’s work is exhibited frequently in both juried and invitational settings, including solo shows, “Silk Roads/Paper Trails” and “Capriccio: Prints and Collage.” She is represented in the Smith College Special Collections, Hampshire College Library, Zea Mays Printmaking Flat File Gallery, and the Herman B. Wells Library at the University of Indiana, Bloomington as well as in many private collections.
Actively engaged in the arts community through curation, giving talks and teaching workshops, Elisa also co-created an online tutorial series on DIY making paper at home. She is a member of The Boston Printmakers and the Monotype Guild of New England. In addition to her art-making practice, Elisa has had a long career in libraries, museums, and art information organizations. Elisa grew up in an Italian American family in Rochester, NY and currently lives in western Massachusetts.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My creative process is ongoing – involving eyes, mind, heart, and hands. Nature, astonishingly simple, yet mysterious is the essence of my art. I work with the phenomena of our physical world as an inherent part of our humanness. Color stirs my spirit – – in nature, in art, and in everyday life. I draw inspiration from my sojourns to my favorite haunts: Sicily, Rome, Venice, and recently Puglia. I am fascinated with seeing how common visual motifs span centuries and geography, emerging in similar and diverse ways in these locales. The sea is a constant – it conveys art, makers, and goods that connect these places. Cultural migrations, conquests, religions, and mythology are woven into the mix.
Searching for a more intimate and multi-dimensional space to tell my stories, I found my way into artists’ books. Often, my books emerge as visual/textual sequels to earlier 2-dimensional monotype prints. They also provide a platform for me to sneak in some of my poetry — yes, I’ve been a bit discreet about that in the past. So, I jumped into a class with Amaryllis Siniossoglou and delved into Hedi Kyle’s book, Art of the Fold. Inspired by hinged medieval altarpieces, I have been making accordion “leporello” books with handmade paper hinges. My vintage oak dining room table is piled high with scraps of prints, handmade paper, and textiles that I have pulled from my color categorized archives. The table becomes a veritable mood board.