Prologue
Welcome to The Artistic Palette.
My name is Lizzy Lourenco and I’ll be narrating your journey through this publication. Our tagline is the best definition of the archive’s contents, an exploration of the interaction and combination of various art forms. Within the following chapters, you’ll be able to gain some insight into my process developing as a theatrical designer and see how different mediums have influenced my artistic style and understanding.
As a Technical Direction student at USC, I have a wide variety of tools equipped on my desk, ranging from sketchbooks, paintbrushes and pencil sets to various types of rulers and constructed models. By the end of these installments, I aim to shed some light on my relationship with my equipment and display how truly diverse the work of a theatrical designer is.
As you might imagine, all of this didn’t happen overnight, but gradually over the past nineteen years of my life. While I might not have known a label for my artistic identity until more recently, I had begun my process of “scratching”, searching and practicing until finding the details which would spring me into artistic momentum (thank you, Twyla Tharp). This process required research, but not that of which you would normally identify with the word. My definition of artistic research correlates similarly to that of Henk Borgdorff, “seeking to convey and communicate content that is enclosed in aesthetic experiences, enacted in creative practices and embodied in artistic products”. However, this research only goes as far as how much it has been put into practice. Throughout the publication, you’ll see how my relationships with certain art forms have developed based on how well I’ve “gotten to know them”.
Finally, these separate pages of the archive will display the works and ideas of artists I’m majorly inspired by. Through showing you how I’ve been motivated by other creatives while developing my process, I hope to provide a place for you to connect, to become inspired, and to dive down the “artistic rabbit hole”.
Before you continue from this point, there are some things you should know regarding how you navigate through the archive itself.
Each following chapter will include a playlist of songs that I relate to the medium being discussed. These are songs that I’ve either: utilized within my work for that particular art form, listened to when taking part of that activity, or used to get me in the right mindspace to actively tune in to the art I’m practicing. There are certain songs that I will highlight within the chapters, but you have the freedom (and permission) to choose where you start. I personally tend to listen to these songs on shuffle, so feel free to join me in that experience should you find it more appealing.
There will be lots of overlap in conversation and ideas, as they’ve done in my personal practice, so I encourage you to navigate through the chapters like how you would a museum. I’ve put chapter numbers to guide you with my personal journey in each of the mediums, but feel free to explore the publication to what draws your eye or to circle back to certain chapters if you feel pulled back.
All of that said, please enjoy The Artistic Palette.
