From Coloring Books to Charcoal Artist: Lissette Yamase Honors Her Culture Through Art
“Each piece is very special to me and overall, it makes me feel happy and hopeful to see others enjoy it as well” - Lissette Yamase
Lissette Yamase, a young Micronesian self-taught charcoal artist is making her way on the world stage. The 27-year old is known for her unique drawings that depict aspects of island cultures and stories across Micronesia. What she started now becomes a connection with her people who are inspired by her art and this urges her to pursue her art.
Lissette grew up on different islands in Micronesia: Palau, Saipan, Chuuk and Pohnpei. She attended Xavier High School in Chuuk and graduated in 2013. She moved to Oahu, Hawaii, to attend the University of Chaminade where she got her Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies. She now works for a non-profit organization that does a variety of social services towards communities across Oahu where she helps community people looking for jobs and educational opportunities. She is currently working full time while managing her own artwork.
Growing up, Lissette has always loved art and the process of creating it. When she was a child, she always stayed indoors drawing all day, coloring books, collecting sticks and various arts and crafts. She started off drawing a lot of cartoon characters. She would draw them over and over again, in different outlets, trying different things. Her father often went on a lot of business trips and would bring her some sticker albums, coloring books and drawing materials that she had no access to in Chuuk and Pohnpei. One time, when she was in primary school, he brought her compressed charcoal and a drawing pad.
“I don’t know why he chose that but he just brought it home and I remember working with those and from the very first drawing I did, I started to really love it. It just looked so dramatic and to me it was really flexible. It was easy to use compared to other materials I had tried and that’s where it all started and from there, I just kept making charcoal pieces”, said Lissette.
Things changed for her art when she moved to Hawaii. She got homesick. Being away from home for so long and not having island stories told to her when she was young, she thought of the idea to use her art in a way that would connect her to the stories and traditions she has been trying to catch up on. Moving away from home also made her realise how special and small of a population her home is, compared to the world out there.
“That kind of urged me even more to honor our survival stories. Because we practice oral tradition for so many generations and to this day, we’re still telling it, passing it down to our kids or learning it from our grandparents and that blows my mind and I believe my art could be used to celebrate the survival of our stories”, she said.
“My passion and love for art was always there. It has just been reinforced over the years. My greatest inspirations for art come from my home islands, our unique cultures, and powerful stories. They survive and come a long way and I like to see my art as a way to honor that.”
She said she has been inspired by many people she met throughout her life to turn her dream into a bigger purpose: her supportive family and friends who keep her grounded and productive, most especially her sister Nicole Yamase, the first ever Pacific islander to reach the deepest part of the Mariana trench in March this year. “I’m very proud of her. She went out there so brave and courageous with the trip but she’s still the very same person to me and I take a lot of inspiration from her”, she said.
Lissette advertises and sells her artwork mainly through Instagram and Facebook. Nonetheless, her artwork took off during the COVID-19 pandemic. She spent a lot of time by herself, reaching out to people back home who were willing to share with her their visions of island stories. Quarantine gave her the time and she did not expect much of it but once she started going through the series of island legends and drawing them, people started following her on social media, commenting and sharing her work all over the place.
“It’s pretty cool to see how many people are commenting and saying those arts remind them of life back home. They would share the pictures, tag their cousins, relatives and say, ‘Oh this reminds me of grandma’. It makes me so happy to see how people relate to it like that”, Lissette recalled, “I’ve come a long way from where I started and it is humbling. It makes me proud and grateful to see growth in my journey.”
However, the young artist said she is still in the process of getting her art known all over social media while currently setting up her own website. “It’s really me teaching myself how to do things so I want to take my time with it. I want it to be a good result so I’m not doing anything hasty. I’m trying to learn as much as I can by myself”, she said.
Lissette Yamase’s story is one to celebrate as it tells of a young Micronesian woman who hopes to honor and preserve island stories through the pieces she creates. Till this day, she continues to draw and craft her culture into artwork.
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