ALYSSA LIZZINI
Alyssa Lizzini is an artist from Cleveland, Ohio whose work explores concepts of social geography and community engagement through on-location drawing. Lizzini's layered images are inspired by her own archival, ethnographic, and visual research of city spaces. In the studio, she utilizes drawing, painting, and printmaking techniques to create visually complex, layered images that mirror the complexity of our social and spatial world. Lizzini graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2022.
ALYSSA LIZZINI
Tapestry Of Life
For everyone. For you.
By all of us. Join us.
Tapestry of
Life
Alyssa
Lizzini
the artist's inspiration
I’ve lived in Cleveland my whole life, I love it here. Why? The people. The people are just the best, filled with kindness. The Cleveland I’ve experienced is more than sometimes meets the eye. It is in the community and beauty we create and weave for one another.
I love to walk through Cleveland neighborhoods – it’s become a key part of my practice and means I always feel really connected to the street. Tapestry of Life is inspired by one of those walks, when I headed down the ‘Opportunity Corridor’ that connects Cleveland’s west side with the east, all the way to the Cleveland Clinic. As they created the corridor, they went right through a historically disadvantaged community, in which I took a side street on this walk.
And there in front of me is this house with a front porch covered by more roses than you could imagine. The side street was off a stretch of the Corridor that seemed quite empty and devoid of much activity, yet here was this porch overflowing with riotous color. It was a breathtaking symbol of beauty and pride – and a “we’re still here” commitment to the future.
The fact these roses, a symbol of growth, appeared on a front porch was really meaningful. Front porches are places of greeting, of connection and reaching out, of long chats and watching the world go by. They are community.
Let's make our shared ideals a reality. For everyone.
So in Tapestry of Life you see a pair of hands knitting a tapestry of roses, overflowing from a front porch across the entire sculpture. Hidden within the roses are drawings of Cleveland – buildings, details, moments and places that we recognise as a key part of our lives.
They include:
-
Westside Market – a gathering space that draws lots of communities and cultures, who create the incredible mix and energy that is Cleveland.
-
Steel mills – speaking to the city’s history of industry and our identity as part of the rust belt.
-
Stethoscopes – reflecting that we are leaders in the healthcare industry, including the second best hospital in the world in the Cleveland Clinic.
You’ll also see hands: the ones that knit, those that pray, those that reach out. The hands are the tools we use to be and connect with this world. You don’t ned anything else to do this work beside yourself. Whatever body you were born with, that is all you need to grow beauty in the world through what you do.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all thought about how we could create beauty in the world, together?
ALYSSA’s “If I Could Tell You Just One Thing…”
Keep rediscovering your world and what you can do to make it beautiful. Being an avid observer of your world stops you from becoming complacent as you see ways that you can contribute to your community.
CAPITOL PARK, detroit
june 2024
explore the theme
So in Tapestry of Life you see a pair of hands knitting a tapestry of roses, overflowing from a front porch across the entire sculpture. Hidden within the roses are drawings of Cleveland – buildings, details, moments and places that we recognise as a key part of our lives.
They include:
-
Westside Market – a gathering space that draws lots of communities and cultures, who create the incredible mix and energy that is Cleveland.
-
Steel mills – speaking to the city’s history of industry and our identity as part of the rust belt.
-
Stethoscopes – reflecting that we are leaders in the healthcare industry, including the second best hospital in the world in the Cleveland Clinic.
You’ll also see hands: the ones that knit, those that pray, those that reach out. The hands are the tools we use to be and connect with this world. You don’t ned anything else to do this work beside yourself. Whatever body you were born with, that is all you need to grow beauty in the world through what you do.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all thought about how we could create beauty in the world, together?
ALYSSA’s “If I Could Tell You Just One Thing…”
Keep rediscovering your world and what you can do to make it beautiful. Being an avid observer of your world stops you from becoming complacent as you see ways that you can contribute to your community.
THEME
US REIMAGINED
Having taken this path together, Us Reimagined invites us to envision the community, society and world we can create if we embrace transformative solidarity and prioritize full dignity and justice for all.
THEME
us reimagined
Having taken this path together, Us Reimagined invites us to envision the community, society and world we can create if we embrace transformative solidarity and prioritize full dignity and justice for all.
explore the theme
the artist's inspiration
I’ve lived in Cleveland my whole life, I love it here. Why? The people. The people are just the best, filled with kindness. The Cleveland I’ve experienced is more than sometimes meets the eye. It is in the community and beauty we create and weave for one another.
I love to walk through Cleveland neighborhoods – it’s become a key part of my practice and means I always feel really connected to the street. Tapestry of Life is inspired by one of those walks, when I headed down the ‘Opportunity Corridor’ that connects Cleveland’s west side with the east, all the way to the Cleveland Clinic. As they created the corridor, they went right through a historically disadvantaged community, in which I took a side street on this walk.
And there in front of me is this house with a front porch covered by more roses than you could imagine. The side street was off a stretch of the Corridor that seemed quite empty and devoid of much activity, yet here was this porch overflowing with riotous color. It was a breathtaking symbol of beauty and pride – and a “we’re still here” commitment to the future.
The fact these roses, a symbol of growth, appeared on a front porch was really meaningful. Front porches are places of greeting, of connection and reaching out, of long chats and watching the world go by. They are community.
Let's make our shared ideals a reality. For everyone.
ALYSSA LIZZINI
Alyssa Lizzini is an artist from Cleveland, Ohio whose work explores concepts of social geography and community engagement through on-location drawing. Lizzini's layered images are inspired by her own archival, ethnographic, and visual research of city spaces. In the studio, she utilizes drawing, painting, and printmaking techniques to create visually complex, layered images that mirror the complexity of our social and spatial world. Lizzini graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2022.
PURPOSE
in our relationship with ourselves.
WORTHINESS
I am worthy of love dignity and respect.
AWARENESS
I know how I see the world and where it comes from.
BELIEF
I believe I have something valuable to offer.
PURPOSE
I know what inspires me and what I want to do.