Behind the Mic: Artist Lisa Congdon on Collections.

When I moved to Denmark I fell in love with Scandinavian design and Modern architecture. Modernism is spare with clean lines and a lack of clutter. Given my Magpie tendency towards being distracted by sparkly things, this could prove to be a problem. I am a collector of tiny treasures and odd-bits and bobs. However would I get the two to play together nicely? 

Then I discovered Lisa Congdon, a visual artist from San Francisco. When I read this article at Apartment Therapy on how she and her partner, Clay, have merged simplistic modernist styling with collecting, I felt a sigh of relief. It can be done!

I’ve been following Lisa online for awhile now. I get shored-up and sharpened by her stunning artwork. (I’m saving my pennies for this one.) I also gobble up the eye candy on her A Collection a Day site.  I love what she has to say here about how photographing her collections revealed to her surprising reasons for why she’s drawn to certain things. (It made me realize I love my collection of fortune cookie slips because they represent magic and mystery to me.) 

Today, Lisa has kindly offered to get Behind the Mic and talk to us about collecting. Lisa, step right up…  

Lisa in her S.F. studio. Photo by Martha McQuade.

Q: As a collector, when you notice that frisson of energy that draws you to an item, do you have an internal dialogue about whether you should buy it/pick it up/keep it or not? How do you decide?

L: Definitely. I have been collecting for so long that I have a fairly honed sense of what I am looking for and whether it’s something that will complement my existing collections. And I think like most people who collect and who have been collecting for a long time, I’ve become discerning, both about each object (will this fit into my larger collection of X?) and about whether it’s priced fairly. So for most items, the internal dialogue is short and I am pretty good at moving on if my gut tells me it’s not the right thing or it’s too expensive. But, then there are always those items which leave me thinking, or paying slightly more than I’m comfortable with.

Q: Do you and your partner, Clay, agree about how much “stuff” should be in your living space? What are your tips for making your collection work in a shared home?

L: I lived alone for many years until a year ago. Before my partner moved in I didn’t have to think too much about my stuff and how much of it was in my living space versus my studio (I actually keep most of my collections in my studio). She’s much more of a “minimalist” and really abhors clutter, so we had to negotiate what could stay (and where it could stay) and what had to go when she moved in with me. That said, I have always kept a pretty clean and neat space, despite arrangements of collections throughout the house. When she moved in, it was a good opportunity to purge (we had a big garage sale) and for me to really think about how much “stuff” I wanted and where I wanted to keep it. Stuff really is just stuff at the end of the day. I had to assess which stuff was sentimental or important or had value and what was just filling up space. When you live with a non-collector, I think it’s important to try to understand their perspective. Ultimately your living space is for mutual enjoyment, relaxing, sleeping, entertaining, cooking. We had lots of discussions and ended up doing a lot of shifting things around and inexpensive redecorating in the end to make the space feel good for both of us. 

What are the things you collect doing for you? Are they feeding you or are you feeding them? Have you got any new ideas or inspirations from Lisa’s experience do tell!

Find all our Behind the Mic interviews here. To read the full interview with Lisa, join us at Flock, our online soulcare community. See you next week when I interview artist/author Keri Smith.

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