Creator. Artworker. Catalyst.
Charissa Lucille is a multimedia artist who earned their BFA in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University in 2014. They are currently quilting, self publishing, and running Wasted Ink Zine Distro. Lucille uses the mediums of textiles, photography, and zines, to explore their identity and activism as it relates to disability, neurodiversity, and queerness. Their artwork has been exhibited locally at Phoenix Art Museum, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Vision Gallery, and Northlight Gallery, and has been published in Love Quilting Magazine, UPPERCASE Magazine, Bolt Zine, Femme Fotale, among others. They are a member of Five15Arts, they co-curate Raiz Gallery, and they are a Trunk Space Board Member.
Sewing & Quilting
Lucille began embroidery and hand sewing in 2017 and began machine sewing in 2019. In 2020, they sewed and donated over 100 facemasks before they began quilting. They draw inspiration from their grandmother’s hand-mending skills and from their mother’s seamstress skills along with the intricate quilts they’ve experienced while growing up in rural Pennsylvania and Hawaii.
Photography
Lucille’s interest in photography began as an eight-year-old living in Hawaii and solidified during a high-school film photography class. Lucille uses analog film and a blend of manual and automatic camera equipment to document their experiences and to capture their surroundings.
Self Publishing Zines
Lucille began writing feminist zines in 2014, opened Wasted Ink Zine Distro in 2015, and started the Phx Zine Fest in 2016. They’ve published zine titles such as Fem Static Zine, Memoirs of a Liar, Shattered Glass, Survivor Zine, and Unfinished, which they’ve distributed at invitation-only festivals such as the LA Zine Fest, SF Zine Fest, LB Zine Fest and more. You can find their zines in libraries and stores such as the San Diego Public Library, In Other Words Bookstore in Portland, and The Pop-Hop Bookstore in Los Angeles.
Exhibitions & Publications:
2024-
Nov - machinemachine, a quilted critique on the trauma of labor under U.S. capitalism expanded group show, The Project Space, Phoenix
Sept-Jan - Safety Blankets: Discourse on Neurodivergence, Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, Mesa
Nov-Jan - Art Quilts: Impact, (Shell to Shell from Soft & Heavy Series), Vision Gallery, Chandler
Aug-Nov - Speak to Me Softly (machinemachine series), Vision Gallery, Chandler
July-Aug - From the Ethers to the Earth, Raiz Gallery, Phoenix
June-Aug - machinemachine, a quilted critique on the trauma of labor under U.S. capitalism, Songbird Coffee & Tea House, Phoenix
May-Oct - Snapshot of Greater Phoenix, Virtual Exhibit
March - machinemachine, a quilted critique on the trauma of labor under U.S. capitalism, Trunk Space, Phoenix
Jan - Artist to Work Reception and Showcase, Sagrado, Phoenix
Jan-June - Safety Blankets: Discourse on Neurodivergence, Phoenix Art Museum’s Education Gallery, Phoenix
2023-
Soft and Heavy: a quilted grief study, Cha Cha’s Tea Lounge, Phoenix
Artists Among Us, Heard Museum Staff Art Show, Phoenix
Thanks for Nothing: Art as a Form of Protest, Trunk Space, Phoenix
Saguaroland, Changing Hands Bookstore/Pravus Gallery, Phoenix
2022-
With Every Fiber of My Being - Safety Blankets Series, Changing Hands Bookstore/Pravus Gallery, Phoenix
Pride Issue, Bolt Zine
Safety Blankets: Discourse on Neurodivergence, Songbird Coffee & Tea House, Phoenix
Quilting For Everybody, Love Quilts Magazine
2021-
Art Quilts, UPPERCASE Magazine 51st Issue
Piecing It Together, First Studio Gallery, Phoenix
From The Ground Up, Raiz Gallery, Phoenix
Quilted Memoir, Art Studio, Phoenix
2019-
2018-
Phoenix Film Revival: Intro Group Show, Phoenix Film Revival, Phoenix
Femme Fotale VI: Health Release Party and Gallery Show, ASU Northlight Gallery, Phoenix
2017-
Nasty Women / Noisy Women / Knitting Women / Naked women, Fine Art Complex, Tempe
Femme Fotale IV: Leafless Release Party, Taste of Tops, Tempe
Open Ended: a photo show about growth, The Hive, Phoenix
2016-
Up Close: A personal evening with the film community., The Drive-Thru Gallery & Studio, Phoenix
PHX SUX Art Show, The Trunkspace, Phoenix
Girl's Imprint: A Photo Show By Femme Fotale, The Drive- Thru Gallery & Studio, Phoenix
Femme Fotale Release Party, Taste of Tops, Tempe
Self: The Realization of Autonomy, The Liquor Gallery, Tempe
2015-
Zone 1: Home Grown Art, Cartel Coffee Lab, Fiftyone West, Taste of Tops, Tempe
My Skin, My Salvation, Wasted Ink Zine Distro, Tempe
Intolerant Voices, The Sp(a)ce, Phoenix
Projects and Press:
Paper Jam + Print
Nothing is Wasted - a zine distro gets new dig and lands in a new literary hub
Wasted Ink Zine Distro and Palabras Bilingual Bookstore open a new lit hub in Phoenix
Phoenix zine community continues to grow thanks to ASU alumna
Working with Attention and Intention, with Charissa Lucille with Aftr Art Podcast
Phoenix Tonight, Ep. 18, Segment 6: Wasted Ink Zine Distro's Charissa Lucille
Print Isn't Dead: Take a page from local zine queen Charissa Lucille
Charissa Lucille to Open Wasted Ink Zine Distro Store in Tempe December 6
Independent Zine Store, Wasted Ink Zine Distro, to Open in Tempe
Getting to Know Phoenix's Zine Scene with Charissa Lucille of Wasted Ink Zine Distro
Femme Fotale Show "Girl's Imprint" examines fragility, intimacy through women's lens
"Girl's Imprint" gallery show celebrates women photographers
Local Women Seek to Build Community, Foster Creativity Through Zines
Comics, Zines, and Lowbrow Art Rants, Fem Static Zine Issue 3
Getting to Know Phoenix's Zine Scene with Charissa Lucille of Wasted Ink Zine Distro
2016 Creatives: Charissa Lucille of Fem Static on Why She Surrounds Herself With Art by Friends