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“I love taking old things that had a life, and giving them a new life,” quips Lisa Kokin as we chat via telephone from her home and studio in California. I can almost see her smile over the phone, even though she’s thousands of miles away. I can feel her enthusiasm, and as we speak, I begin to understand that the art she creates is, for her, not about the next masterpiece. It’s about the life and the story behind the work.

Although Lisa has used many kinds of materials in her art over the years (including old photos and books), the use of buttons has a special meaning to her. Several years ago, her beloved father passed away. In the months that followed, the love she felt for him and the memories of his life mixed with her sorrow at losing him, and the need to find something to do with the grief became overpowering. Her heart and hands took over for her. Since her parents had always worked with fabrics during their years in New York, buttons seemed a fitting homage.

It started as a three dimensional sculpture of chicken wire, a form of her late father’s head. She created the features by choosing appropriate pieces from a collection of buttons she had acquired over the years, and carefully sewed each one onto the completed form.

This tender work of art was a process, a series of do-overs and rearrangements, and sometimes of starting over. But when it was finished, it was indeed, a masterpiece—a labor of love and a work born of pure emotion.

And thus began a time I jokingly referred to as her button period. Although she did complete a few pieces for public commissions (a portrait of Rosa Parks is one of her works), most of her works were inspired by subjects very close to her heart. There is piece that is a rendition of her as a child in a red leotard. And another she will never part with, that she calls “Moment.” It is a recreation, in button form, of a picture of her parents the day they were married.

As we continued our conversation, and I began to understand the depth of the remarkable person I was talking to I came to realize something. The works Lisa creates can easily be a metaphor for us as individuals.

We are made up of pieces of the past. Who we are is a gift from those who came before, and the pieces of their lives they left behind. When you become a family, you combine your pieces with someone else pieces, potentially creating something even more remarkable. But the creation is also a process. Sometimes, you need do- overs and you must rearrange. And other times you have to completely undo what you’ve done to get a fresh start. And all of that’s okay. Because, just like Lisa’s work, it’s about the story and not about creating something someone else might perceive as a masterpiece.

To learn more about Lisa and her other art works, click here...

Making your own button art:

The pieces Lisa creates are extremely time consuming, taking hours upon hours of planning and time. It also takes an incredible amount of talent and patience to complete such a work. (Lisa brought up the patience part, I interjected the talent part myself). Especially portraits, since there is so much shading and dimension.

So her suggestion, when I asked about “tips” for creating pieces at home, was to start simple.

1) Collect buttons. The more the better. And if you can get them from family and friends (who were really just going to through them away anyway), then the art you create will be even more a reflection of the important people in your life. You can look at it later and remember where each piece came from.

2) Choose a Subject. Choose a picture to work from, and make it simple. One thing to remember: No such thing as a button landscape artist. An apple or a toy would do nicely.

3) Choose a canvas. The best thing to do is to sew the buttons onto your canvas, so choose a material that you can work with. Lisa uses chicken wire a lot, but has also used plastic canvas or even stiff needlepoint or cross stitch material.

4) Lay it out. Before you sew anything on, lay it out. Definitely use thread and not glue, since mistakes that are sewn on are way easier to undo then mistakes that are glued on.

5) Be patient! It’s okay to make mistakes. Everyone does. And don’t expect perfection.

6) Enjoy yourself.