Arel Lisette
Bio: Arel Lisette is a visual artist working with charcoal and pastel to create drawings on paper. Drawing through erasure, her works address the nuances of the American identities and narratives held within roadside business, political, and religious signs across the United States. She earned her MFA from Columbia University, is a graduate of the Tamarind Institute of Lithography, and received her BFA from the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. Arel has been awarded an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant twice, and has attended artist residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, the Alex Brown Foundation, the Macedonia Institute, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts.
Thesis Exhibition
Artist Statement:
Volusia County is a place of intersecting paradoxes: situated on the east coast of Central Florida, it is the domain of cheap seaside motels, million-dollar equestrian properties, southern hospitality, and a majority white population deep within conservative America. Whether it is a sign advertising reasonable rates at the Nocturne Motel or a massive sticker declaring “Team Jesus” on the back of a truck, the Florida road tells a uniquely American story of faith, yearning, anger, and desire for belonging whose messages reverberate across state lines.
Drawing subtractively with charcoal on paper allows me to uncover and reflect on the disquieting undercurrents contained within this cultural signage, and to convey the breadth of humanity that exists beyond the divisive representations on display throughout national media. My drawings communicate that the past, present, and future are echoes of each other, and that the painful hidden narratives we carry must be made visible, reimagined, and renegotiated.
Arel Lisette
A Deep Affection, 2026
Charcoal and pastel on paper
Courtesy of the artist
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Side View, 2026
Charcoal and pastel on paper
Courtesy of the artist
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Anthony's Fresh Fish Market, 2025
Charcoal and pastel on paper
Courtesy of the artist
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Sunshine Inn, 2026
Charcoal and pastel on paper
Courtesy of the artist
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Rose on the Table (Jan & Lib's), 2026
Charcoal and pastel on paper
Courtesy of the artist
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Those I Loved and Those Who Loved Me, 2026
Charcoal and pastel on paper
Courtesy of the artist
First Year Exhibition
Arel Lisette
Team Jesus, 2025
Charcoal and pastel on paper
Courtesy of the artist
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Here Today, Here Tomorrow, 2025
Charcoal and pastel on paper
Courtesy of the artist