In Between Stories & Memories: Interview with Lea Anderson

Most three-year-old girls had birthday parties at the skating rink or zoo, not Lea Anderson. Her mother hung her art from the walls of their home and thus she had her first art showing. Artist Lea Anderson is originally from San Diego but has worked in New Mexico since 2003. She received her MFA (with Distinction) from University of New Mexico in 2006. Her work can be seen around the U.S. and even as far away as Thailand. We’re talking to her about Gyraspore, a sculpture designed for Meow Wolf’s newest exhibition opening October 2024 in Houston, Texas.

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MW: Tell us about Gyraspore. What was the process for creating this sculpture? It has a very biomorphic feeling; almost like a cellular membrane with nuclei and other terms I’ve since forgotten from Biology class. ‍

LA: Originally the piece was for a project which was going to be a traveling exhibit themed around oceans. The task was for me to create a buoy, which is not something I would normally approach. But once I started looking into buoys and some of the other requirements for this project, I found a path that inspired me to create Gyraspore. The original project got canceled so when the opportunity came along to create something for Houston, this piece almost felt like it was meant for that space. 

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MW: Can you walk us down your creative path for Gyraspore? 

LA: I was thinking about all these places in between stories or memories. It’s a very esoteric place – islands or even buoys can be places where things that were lost or forgotten could be found – almost a transitional space. The idea for Gyraspore came from thinking about who I am as an artist, and how I can make what I do in my own work be a part of this project. 

I remembered Glowquarium, and I knew it was uniquely photogenic. So one of the things I did to rework the piece specifically for Meow Wolf was use several different colors of UV paint so it would be reactive under the blacklight. It was a great, fun experience because I had never worked with UV paint and really had to experiment with it.

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MW: If you had to describe Gyraspore in words, let’s say you want to start a Wikipedia page for it, what would you say?

LA: The Gyraspore is this buoy who has been taken over by some kind of an ocean fungus. This fungus is trying to do something positive– it is taking toxicity and transforming it into a positive, almost like a gift to humanity. Maybe it was taken over by a life form, or is even a hybrid. 

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MW: It seems biology or biomorphism is often a theme in your works. 

LA: Yes. When I was younger in my teens and twenties, I loved drawing faces or abstract faces, and transitioned into figurative painting. At the end of my college years, I had created this figurative painting with round shapes and realized the shapes were fascinating to me. I almost didn’t care about the figure, but really focused on these round, different colored shapes I was creating. The shapes were on my mind long after the piece was finished, so I did a piece with just the round, blob shapes. The shapes were much more conceptual, and I never did another figurative piece after that. 

In graduate school at UNM, I did an organic abstraction that was really just an impulse, and that prompted me to study more abstract artists or artists who were inspired by the Sciences. It made me realize the round shape was similar to a face - a container for information. Painting figures often had unintentional loaded content - if it was a woman or a person of color in the painting, it often prompted people to ask questions like, “Is this a feminist piece?” Or “Is this about race?”. But when I created the ambiguous round shapes, it allows the viewer to come up with their own ideas that aren’t culturally loaded. 

Understanding yourself many years later, you realize your art evolves and is shaped by what you love and I love learning about how bacteria works, ocean life, fungus. There’s a beautiful design to these things, but emotions can also be represented or felt within these contexts. The biomorphic aesthetic is diplomatic because it isn’t necessarily replicating nature but it looks like nature or even alien nature. It allows me to play with all kinds of materials which often inform the meaning or the direction my work takes. ‍

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MW: You’ve worked with many materials and modes over your art practice. Painting and drawing in 2D, sculpture with mixed media in 3D, and recently you did an exhibit that incorporates digital media. What are you looking to do next?‍

LA: I don’t have expectations about what the future holds. My goal is to just have an interesting experience. To me, the value in being an artist is not the money or notoriety, although that is necessary to exist as a successful artist, but I just love doing something that I haven’t done before. I don’t want to make the same version of the same piece of art for the rest of my career. I need a challenge. Installation work or public art space is really what I am always looking for and obviously, Meow Wolf was a great opportunity for that.‍

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MW: You described Gyraspore, what words would you use to describe yourself as an artist?

LA: Someone once described me as a two and a half D artist. There’s 2D art, there’s 3D art, my work usually has a combination of both. Which is a perfect description! My work expresses something I learned from or was challenged by - perhaps fear or being outside my comfort zone. But that’s what makes it so exciting!‍

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MW: Two and a half D artist plus an arts educator too! Do you still teach at the Central New Mexico Community College?‍

LA: Yes. I like to tell my students art making is like extreme sports because there’s a lot of risk involved in making art. Students are scared - they don’t want to make something ugly or something they are not proud of so you have to take a chance. Maybe you’ll love your piece and others will too - or maybe not. Like an extreme sport, you have to jump out of that plane and hope it works out. Luckily, we aren’t going to die if our art isn’t successful.

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MW: What advice would you give art students or those who want to explore their creative side?‍

LA: Students pursuing art should find out as much as they can about the art world and talk to working artists. Learn about mistakes they’ve made. Every artist’s path is unique. It’s a wilderness you’re needing to find a way through so there’s not one trail to follow. You’ll want tools and support from others. Make a lot of art all the time, not just on Sunday afternoon. Art can feel like a dangerous activity but creating it is such a good thing for anyone. You have to learn about yourself, think about new ideas, and you figure out your path. 

Opening October 2024, our fifth permanent installation is located in Houston’s Fifth Ward. Houstonians and travelers to H-town can sign up for email updates on the official opening dates, learn about the contributing artists, and even find out more about Cowboix Hevvven, the interdimensional dive bar and restaurant inside Meow Wolf Houston.