Lisa Nigro is an interdisciplinary, multi-media artist working in sculpture, interactive installation art, and pastel drawing. Inspired by mythology, gender politics, and pop culture, Nigro’s works address the problematics of a patriarchal society and challenge modern culture’s attitudes toward mythological story. Through the use of mythological icons she attempts to create a bridge between history and the present, alas, between matriarchy and patriarchy, and the old religions versus the new. The incorporation of the elements earth, air, fire, water, and metal is integral to her work, as is the use of recycled materials, and her obsession with process and repetition. Nigro’s competence in metal fabricating, sculpting, and interior design prevail within her greater ability for combining art with design and functionality.

After receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting in 1985, Nigro went on to study sculpture at the University of Texas at Austin. While utilizing foundry methods for casting bronze, mold-making techniques, brazing, and plaster casting, she began creating walk through environments and installations. In 1994 she obtained her Masters degree and moved on to building large-scale outdoor installation works in the northern desert of Nevada. The summer of 1999 marked a major transition in her career with the creation of the larger than life sundial, Diana of Ephesus: Fertility Goddess and Performance, which led to the creation of her most influential project, the mobile and fire-breathing installation, Draka the Dragon of 2000.

In recent years, Nigro has received grants from the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, the Houston Art Car Museum, and the Burning Man Art Festival. Draka the Dragon and Nigro featured in two Monster Garage segments: Backyard Monsters and Monster Nation on the Discovery Channel, and are published in Monster Nation: the Best Transformed Vehicles from Coast to Coast, Who’sWho in America 60th Diamond Edition, This is Burning Man, Drama in the Desert, as well as in MIT Press Leonardo Journal, Art Forum, and Rolling Stone magazines. Nigro was nominated for a Fulbright Grant; and is founder of the Sisterhood of the Burnin’Bush — a coalition for women in the arts.

Nigro currently resides in San Antonio, Texas with her four year old daughter Tymberline Elise, and spends summers in the northern Nevada desert while hosting her Annual 4th of July Fire & Metal Arts Festival — the Burnin’Bush.