A Dark Semi-Realism - A Creation of the Self
Featuring Lisa Broms Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski
Lisa Broms, a young photographer from Stockholm, Sweden explores and creates in a Dark Semi-Surrealism aesthetic. Lisa is an experimentator, always in a self-development mode of discovering and achieving new levels of advancement in art. She paved her way to photography through mastering other genres like manga, realism, experimental art. Self-portraits are a common feature that emerges from the same mode of realization of the self. Self-portraits represent a way to expand reality and find a novel angle of looking through the lens on oneself.
In the interview we discuss the drive behind art creation, the need to modernize the concept of types of art in terms of subjectivity, daring and challenging even when it’s beyond one’s current means, and the imperative to hybridize and blend the mediums and techniques.
Lisa’s work fills you with emotion, lets you for a moment in life to see the world through the artist’s eyes, getting into the different set of reality that fascinates, catches your breath and enables you take a small part of the mystery back to your state of existence.
‘When I was younger, I thought that one had to develop one's own style and I think that thought restricted me. I don’t reflect on my style that much now, I just do what I feel like.’
Hi Lisa, why photography, what led you to become an artist?
I have thought a lot about this, but I won’t be able to give a clear answer. Sometimes I think I just make art because I need something to do, and I don't know what else I would do. I'm pretty restless. I like photography because it’s so effective, you get direct results. In contrast to something like painting, people tend to think that a photo tells the truth, which makes it an interesting medium to work with. You’re able to create and show your own reality.
With years of experience, learning and finding your way and your own voice what were the main developments that you can say you have learned from the most?
I can’t think of any concrete occasions when I felt like I developed, it’s more of an ongoing process. I started out with watercolor painting but got tired after a while and then started shooting instead. When I was younger, I thought that one had to develop one's own style and I think that thought restricted me. I don’t reflect on my style that much now, I just do what I feel like.
Do you encounter criticism? If so, how do you react to it? Is your reaction different to when it comes from friends and family or from the general viewer?
Not really, overall I think people are very kind. Like for most people, I’m my own worst critic. I don’t think others care enough about what I do to become truly critical.
‘Going to art school made me a bit skeptical of the art world, I don’t like the division that exists between what’s good and what’s bad art.’
Do you have a hobby? What do you love investing your time in when it’s not photography?
I’m interested in psychology and have studied it at the university, it’s something, that I would like to learn more about. I also really love animals. I want to get a cat but I live in a student apartment so I can’t. I don’t really think of my interests as 'hobbies', but I’m interested in a lot of things, I find the world to be very fascinating.
What or who might be a major influence on your works, vision, approach to art?
I find inspiration from looking at things on the internet. I watch a lot of lifestyle documentaries on YouTube. I feel like I’ve watched every video about plastic surgery there is, something about the ways we can modify our body fascinates me. The result is sometimes a bit uncanny. Going to art school made me a bit skeptical of the art world, I don’t like the division that exists between what’s good and what’s bad art.
From genres as manga, realism, experimental art, working with watercolor, acrylic, and taking a turn to photography - what are the tools you prefer today and the genre you decided to develop this year?
I always come back to photography, whatever material you’re working with you still need to document it. But I have experimented with a lot of different materials, I recently starting sewing, I’m having a fun time experimenting with it. I want to both explore and expand reality and I feel like the best way to do so is to mix different techniques. I would say the genre I’m working with is some kind of dark semi-realism/light surrealism.
‘I don’t dare to experiment as much when I take photos of someone else as I do when taking self-portraits.’
Being a subject of your art how is the creation of the story different and what is the most challenging aspect of self-portraits?
I would say that the most difficult thing about taking self-portraits is the technical part. You can’t really see how the picture will turn out, you just have to guess. However, it’s nice to have the power over how you’re portrayed, I get so nervous, when others take pictures of me, thinking I will look ugly. The best part of taking self-portraits is that no one questions what one is actually doing. I don’t have much of the technical knowledge, and I always find it difficult to visualize an end result. When I photograph someone else, I feel responsible to create something good so that the person does not feel that they’ve wasted their time. I don’t dare to experiment as much when I take photos of someone else as I do when taking self-portraits.
Tell about the technical aspect and your way of deciding on a technique to choose for your projects as color inversion, projecting image on an object of a body, post-production for the final image.
I’m curious and like to experiment with different mediums. I’m very open to changing techniques during the process, and a few things turn out as I first planned. That's what makes it fun! Creating things resembles the way a child plays, you just have to work harder.
‘I think flowers are very beautiful, that's the main reason I use them in my work. Flowers symbolize life and beauty and are therefore very effective to use in contrast to darker things.’
What are your 3 most surprising revelations in art (names or specific works) that awe?
I would say that Agnes Cecile's expressionist portraits made me start using watercolor, Louise Bourgeois made me use my own body in my works, and Instagram made me start taking photos.
You've been preoccupied with certain themes throughout the years of creating one of the periods being flowers, what do those represent for you and what is interesting about them?
I think flowers are very beautiful, that's the main reason I use them in my work. Flowers symbolize life and beauty and are therefore very effective to use in contrast to darker things.
What’s next?
I’m currently working on a series of costumes that resembles stranded sea creatures. The plan is to photograph them on different shores. The only problem is that all lakes are frozen this time of the year in Sweden, so I might have to wait for spring to take proper photos of them. I also plan to make a short film where I use the things I’ve made. I have a Google Drive document with a long list of things I want to do, it never ends.
