Lisa Bufano

Publication

Surrealist photograph by Hugh Kretschmer in which Lisa Bufano, a below the knee amputee, is seated legs crossed, while 2 high heeled shoes suspend in the air where they would be if she had legs.

Phantom Limb
Photo by Hugh Kretschmer.
www.hughkretschmer.net


Artist Profile by Cait Davis

A brief interview by Cait Davis shot in New York, May 2011. Watch now.


Interview by Jane Hash

January 19, 2012, I was interviewed by the sensational Jane Hash of "HASH IT OUT WITH JANE" on episode 9 of KUSF-IN-EXILE. Listen now.


Stilted

Bufano's performance art is as much about expression through dance as it is an exposition of the form and possibilities of Bufano's body. She draws lines and articulates structures and movements in the manner and language of contemporary dance, but her vocabulary is unique to her body and the technology she integrates into it. Above all, Bufano's performance asks questions; pushing her audience to witness her story, her sexual identity and her disability, and then to surrender her, and themselves, to her art.
Profile Article by Jeannie Polson Read full article


Water Dancing

"I'm a shapeshifter...I explore the different forms my body can take using different mediums. I'm interested in pushing the boundaries of what's possible. That's where you come in. I need you to design me a pair of prosthetics that will propel me through the water. It must be human powered, made of nontraditional materials, and be evocative of a sea creature.
PBS Design Squad episode 5, Season 2.


Artist Takes Inspiration from Amputation

Bufano's stage characters evoke a circus sideshow, which is fine by her. She says she also connects with comic book characters who've undergone extreme transformations. 'It always starts with a really gross accident. You know, someone stepped into the magnifier and so they formed this hideous part of themselves that they have to come to terms with. They feel like that they have two identities and.. are they going to use it for evil or are they going to use it for good?' Now, Bufano is transforming herself again, as an artist. A few months ago she received a grant to stage a major dance work in New York City.
NPR News Story by ANDREA SHEA. March 19, 2007.
Listen at NPR.org


SMFA Artist Profile: Lisa Bufano

"Lisa Bufano (Bachelor of Fine Arts '03) has no fingers, no legs below the knee, and no interest in discussing how she got that way. Instead, she'd rather talk about her art, which ranges from sculpture and stop-motion animation to, more recently, modern dance. 'My eye has always been drawn to abnormal forms,' Bufano says, referring to dolls she has made and animated that have no face, extra ears, or hair curlers for legs. 'It's just that now my tool is my body. I'm still animating a form, but it's my own form.'"
SMFA interview/profile by Jennifer Sutton. Read full article


First Thursday Brings a Few Surprises
Artist Lisa Bufano redefines her world through performance and her changing form.

"Artist Lisa Bufano moves in darkly entrancing ways behind the Alaska Building's window. She sinuously slinks along the floor, then twists and turns as sh rights herself on top of four table-leg prosthesis that are attached to her legs and hands."
Dana Oland/Idaho Statesman. February 4, 2010. [Read full article]


Molecules That Matter

Photos of Lisa Bufano's performance work is used in a science exhibit at The Tang Museum (NY) as an example of products of carbon nanotube technology.
View page from exhibit online interactive