RECENT COMMISSIONS
El Pájaro Azul El Pájaro Azul
Stanford Medicine Sutter Health Cancer Center
Oakland, CA
My horticultural series made of paperback book covers continues to be popular with consultants and private collectors. I enjoy making commissions for healthcare venues because art engages patients and families, creating a brief respite from their medical concerns. El Pájaro Azul is the latest addition to this series, many of which can be seen on my Commissions page →
Room 414 Room 414
The Gunter Hotel
San Antonio, TX
What a thrill to make an asemic piece based on a musical score! And to have it hanging in a historic hotel where the blues legend Robert Johnson once had a recording studio in room 414. This is the first time I had the opportunity to use asemic “notes” and I loved the opportunity to acknowledge the importance of Johnson in the evolution of a quintessentially American musical genre.
Dorian's Rose #2 The Dorian
Calgary, Canada
This commission, for a Victorian-themed hospitality venue,
stipulated three elements: that the piece be made from vintage
copies of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, that the
overall shape be the Alberta Rose, the provincial flower of
Alberta, and that, although a wall piece, it needed to be
sculptural. I love working within these types of limitations.
Using six different copies of the book, I made Dorian’s Rose
from both the pages and the covers of the classic novel.
More commissions examples →
East Meets West Raffles Boston
Boston, MA
Given the theme of East Meets West for a hospitality venue, I created fourteen patinated copper pieces which use asemic text, both horizontal and vertical, in the form of punctured holes made with a sewing machine. Manipulated safety pins are an additional element in some of the pieces.
More commissions examples →
PUBLICATION
Le Fil Dans L’art ContemporainCover and page spread
Le Fil Dans L’art Contemporain
Published by Pyramyd Editions
Paris, France
This book includes 125 artists working in a variety of textile techniques from around the world. The double page spread about my work includes pieces from my Lines and Tangles series of cord and thread on industrial felt.
RECENT ACQUISITIONS
Abridged Abridged, an altered dictionary about banned books, was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC
LisaKokin.jpg "Constellation")
Constellation Constellation, a major large-scale sewn found photo piece, was acquired by the Crocker Museum in Sacramento, CA
The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, a sewn found photo piece, was acquired by a private collector in Chapel Hill, NC
Territory Territory, from the Raw Edge series, was acquired by the prominent collector Mary Austin, installed in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Armor Armor was aquired by DePaul University, John T. Richardson Library , Chicago, IL. Part of my Facsimile series, Armor is based on a page from an old dictionary in which each word is made from a zipper fragment of corresponding length. Finally some closure for this piece which will now be “read” by those fluent in Asemic.
MENTORING & CRITIQUE
I work one-on-one with many artists in my Coaching/Mentorship Program, an outgrowth of decades of mentoring graduate students in local colleges and universities. The program is tailored to the needs of each artist and includes six one-hour meetings or the equivalent to be completed within six months.
Artists use their coaching/mentorship sessions for critique and career development, as well as issues related to maintaining a consistent studio practice.
For artists who live outside of the San Francisco Bay Area, mentorships are available via Zoom.
Read more →
EXHIBITIONS
Cloth, Paper, Stitches
Bainbridge Island Museum of Art,
July 3 - September 20, 2026
I am pleased to be included in this exhibition of books from the Cynthia Sears Artists’ Books Collection, of artists who champion the tactility of materials and the intimacy of engagement in bookmaking. Vexillology is a large-scale book made primarily of flag and cocktail dress fragments. It involves the use of the whole upper body to “operate,” and is one of several large-scale, non-linear and textless books that I have made recently.
.jpg "Enough (Jumbo)")
Cultural Currency: Contemporary Art from the Riemer Collection
Irving Arts Center
Irving, TX
Aug. 14 – Nov. 14, 2026
Several of my stitched currency pieces are in this nationally traveling exhibition curated by Emilee Enders featuring the collection of money-themed art begun in 1995 by Louise Rothman-Riemer and Davis Riemer. The exhibition presents the innovative ways artists use money as a medium to explore preconceived notions of value and worth beyond declared denominations. The 38 artists in the exhibition investigate monetary value by meticulously repurposing bills and coins into exquisite, conceptually engaging artworks.
Crossing the Line: The Passport Re-Imagined
Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College
Lynchburg, VA
June 29 - Oct 4, 2026
Passport to Lesbianism, one of my artist’s books, is part of a show highlighting artists’ books that are inspired by the passport, travel documents, and stories of migration. It is an honor to be included in this traveling exhibition on a very timely contemporary topic.
VIDEOS
State Bird
A short of Lisa Kokin paging through State Bird, a book made from 35 hand-embroidered state birds paired with images of immigrant detention centers and vintage textiles. Video by Lia RoozendaalTerritory
A short video of Territory by Lia Roozendaal. Territory, part of the Raw Edge series, measures 49 x 80 inches, and is made of reclaimed fiber, scraps and failure fragments rescued from the studio floor.A commission I recently made.
Community Health Innovations (CHI)
Montage Health/Community Hospital of the
Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA
I received a large commission for the new Montage Health/Community Hospital in Monterey, CA. Nature Library will be viewed from both sides in a beautifully constructed Plexiglas box. The piece is the result of countless hunting and gathering forays to find discarded books at the local recycling center and is composed of dozens of book cloth covers from a wide variety of sources. It was a true pleasure to make the piece, knowing that it will contribute to a feeling of well-being and tranquility as people “read” the bits of text while waiting to see their doctor.
My photographer, Lia Roozendaal, made a video of the process from beginning to end titled Nature Library Enjoy!