Lisa Bryn Cerny
Collage artist
I am a collage artist from Morristown, New Jersey. I use handmade papers, fabrics, trims, flowers, metals, stones, magazines, acrylics, and thick gloss gels to raise the surface into three-dimensional collage art. My work has a whimsical and magical quality. Inspiration comes from my experience of nature, and the world, through the movement and colors of the seasons.
My work is multimedia now. When I first began making collages, they were made primarily from magazine words and pictures that were pasted to letters and cards made for friends and family. Over time, the collages were created on objects such as small boxes, ornaments and tissue boxes and materials included wrapping paper, handmade paper, gold and silver paint pens. I began working on canvas in the late 1990’s when I was working on finding my voice and speaking my truth during a difficult time in my career as a nurse. I witnessed and experienced conflict in the workplace firsthand. The art that I create is soulful, whimsical, and magical. My artwork mirrors my dreams and life as I experience it.
My inspiration comes from interactions and chance encounters with others, nature, routine rituals, and my little studio which is full of flowers, twinkling lights, art supplies, and fairies. Other sources of inspiration include the colors of the seasons, other artists, the night sky, bodies of water, metals, nature, stones, crystals, and fairies. In Morris County, inspiration comes from visiting my favorite florist, Colly Flowers in Morristown, walking through one of the Morristown nurseries, and my gardens when my flowers are in bloom.
As a nurse and an artist, I see all forms of art as healing and that is what I hope comes through in my work, the strength, hope, magic, surprise, and resilience. When I am dissatisfied with my work, I walk through my house and look at previous work and that reminds me to stay true to the art style. My materials vary according to the piece, my inspiration, and the techniques involved.
I recently put my career as a nursing professor on hold in order to focus solely on my art and to see where this takes me.
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