Today we’d like to introduce you to Charlisa Montrope.
Hi Charlisa, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I can say I’ve been drawing/ doodling since a child. In middle school I took an art class and realized I had some talent. My teacher saw it in me as well and entered me into the Scholastics art & writing competition where I won a silver key. I continued taking art classes all throughout high school because it was something I really enjoyed. When it came time to apply for college, I didn’t quite know what I wanted to do so my mom chose art as my degree. From there, the rest was in my hands. I started at Miami-Dade college (the art classes there were mostly from observation so pretty easy to me) then transferred to New World School of the Arts (that’s where the hardship began) and now I’m currently working on my Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Miami.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has definitely not been smooth. When I started going to New World School of the Arts I cried every semester and questioned if this was really the path I wanted to take almost weekly. That school can really make or break you. I constantly thought I did not have what it takes to be an artist. At the time, I was in my early 20s still trying to figure out my place in the world whilst trying to find context for my art. Although there are artists that just make pretty things…, I wanted my art to have meaning which is what I struggled with the most in undergrad. I learned a lot attending NWSA but it was very challenging. However, it brought me to where I am currently and I’m grateful for the hardships.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am currently working on my MFA in printmaking. Although my main concentration is printmaking, my work is usually mixed media. I paint print (both digitally and traditionally) and draw into my work.
My work employs various printmaking techniques to build culturally specific imagery through map-making that reference my family’s immigration from St. Lucia to Miami, Florida. I seek to create a hybrid visual language combining traditional and digital methodologies in contemporary printmaking, heavily layering color and form through collage techniques. Gelliplate printing, silkscreen, digital printing, and traditional drawing processes are layered and worked over with soft pastel, airbrushing, and acrylic painting. This multitude of materials and processes is used to reflect the multiculturalism I experience as a Caribbean immigrant now based in Miami while describing my past experiences and ongoing relationship to the Island of St. Lucia. Here, Mapmaking has become foundational to my practice, supplemented by culturally specific motifs such as the pattern and colors of Madras fabric, which is a creole textile used during the celebration of Jounen Kweyol (National Creole Day). Conflating maps of the island drawn through recent visits to St. Lucia with maps of areas I frequent in Miami, my work unfolds into large scale, colorful, linear abstractions evoking a sense of place but also a sense of dislocation, not of fully belonging to either place. They create a tapestry of my past, my present, and possibly a map to my future.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Perseverance, no matter how difficult the obstacle or how much I want to give up, I always keep moving forward to achieve my goals.
Contact Info:
- Email: cmontrope94@gmail.com
- Website: charlisamontrope.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlisamontrope/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlisamontrope
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CharlieBaltimore94/
