Lisa Schulte

Neon light boasts two primary identities: a jubilance that reflects the radiance of midday, and an evening persona of romance and excitement, wherein surging flickers of curved encapsulated candles intrigue passersby. Lisa Schulte, an American sculptor born in Long Island, New York, has mastered the many “faces” of neon, earning her the moniker, “The Neon Queen.”

A woman of German, Irish, and Spanish descent, Lisa has lived the majority of her life in Los Angeles, California. After a childhood eye injury left the artist in darkness for several months of healing, the then seven year old not only emerged re-gifted with sight, she now possessed a fierce appreciation of the nuanced interactions between light and dark.Years later, in 1984, Lisa would discover innovation in her medium was a necessary step toward the realization of her conceptualized projects. Finding she possessed the talent to work with the medium, Lisa studied in Kansas under Master Neon Tube Bender Freddie Elliot, and her growing prowess sparked the beginnings of “Nights of Neon” – a Los Angeles neon studio and boutique creative space providing custom neon pieces for films, events, and branding.

After amassing experience and exposure, Lisa shifted her focus to envisioning and creating intricate, abstract designs often absent in neon, and for the last decade, Lisa has turned inward to create personal pieces she has exhibited in museums and fine art galleries nationwide. This includes work exploring the artist's passion for organic forms; work that provokes a broader dialogue pertaining to relativity and environmental adaptation. In a recent series, the artist externalized the metaphor of unity by pairing two disparate mediums - white neon and found wood - in a novel harmony; their differences highlighting the inherent beauty possessed by each. The artist is presently creating abstract pieces built from neon and wood.

In addition to making her own art, Schulte’s fabrication studio, Nights of Neon, produces custom designs and signage for clients that include: Showtime, The WB, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, ABC, Nike, CBS, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Gucci, HBO, Hulu, Netflix, YSL, KARMA Automotive, & NBC. Schulte has been commissioned to create installations at Stagecoach, Grand Central Market LA, The MONA (Museum of Neon Art in LA), Stella McCartney, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, POP Austin, Lancaster MOAH, MOCA San Diego, The Palladium, and The Staples Center.