Dede Lifgren
About the Artist
Dede Lifgren is a contemporary artist whose work explores transformation through texture, pattern, material, and the natural world. After beginning her studies at the State University of New York at Oneonta, she studied in France and traveled throughout Europe, experiences that deepened her engagement with art before she went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute.
Returning to New York, Lifgren built a career that blended art, design, and entrepreneurship. She founded several creative businesses, including VersaTile, featuring ceramic tile murals; Capuchinz, known for patterned hats and jewelry; and Walls of the Wild, a line of life-size animal and plant wall decals. These ventures reflect her enduring interest in craftsmanship, innovative materials, and bringing art into everyday life.
Throughout her career, Lifgren has maintained a studio practice encompassing painting, ceramics, and sculpture. Since 2023, her work has centered on discarded cardboard—a mundane, everyday material she cuts, reshapes, weaves, paints, and layers into richly textured forms. Her work ranges from large-scale abstract landscapes and dimensional hanging pieces to more intimate explorations of the natural world, transforming discarded material into unexpected visual experiences.
Artist Statement
Abstract Oil Painter
In early 2023, I committed to working exclusively with discarded cardboard. It was everywhere—abundant, overlooked, and full of possibility. Restricting myself to this single, humble material became both a challenge and a catalyst for invention.
Cardboard is unstable and inconsistent, qualities that forced me to rethink my process. I soak, cut, weave, staple, glue, paint, and adorn each piece, pushing the material beyond its intended use. The work resists predictability, often surprising me as much as the viewer.
I want each piece to first engage the viewer on its own terms—through form, texture, and composition. The discovery that it is made entirely from discarded cardboard comes second, inviting viewers to reconsider both the material and the assumptions they bring to it, while revealing the unexpected beauty and expressive potential of something so often overlooked.
