top of page

Abstract

Layered, intuitive works exploring texture, atmosphere, and emotional presence.

These abstract paintings are created through an intuitive, layered process using oils, cold wax, and mixed media. Rather than beginning with a fixed image, each piece develops gradually — areas are built, softened, covered, and rediscovered until the painting settles into balance. Texture and color carry the emotion of the work, leaving space for personal interpretation. I hope viewers can pause with these pieces, notice something new over time, and form their own connection to the surface and atmosphere within the painting.

Baja Armor Series

The Baja Armor series is a tactile exploration of Todos Santos, Mexico—a coastal landscape where the lush, vibrant tropics collide with the stark, resilient desert. Rendered in deeply layered oil and cold wax, the collection uses the pineapple motif as a metaphor for the Baja peninsula: structurally thorny and fiercely protected on the exterior, yet exploding with rich, saturated internal warmth. Striking fuchsias and blazing oranges cut through dense, scraped layers of midnight indigo, mimicking the brilliant coastal sun breaking across desert shadows. Designed as a cohesive triptych, these small-format abstractions bring immense architectural energy, sophisticated color theory, and raw, sculptural presence to luxury residential and hospitality environments.

Oils Cold Wax Abstract painting version 1

Baja Armor I:

Thorns & Zest

Artist: Lisa Tollner

Medium: Oil and cold wax on archival paper, mounted on 1" archival birch wood board

Dimensions: 8x11

Price: $1,200

Availability: Available, ready-to-hang

Oils Cold Wax Abstract painting version 2

Baja Armor II:

Desert Oasis

Artist: Lisa Tollner

Medium: Oil and cold wax on archival paper, mounted on 1" archival birch wood board

Dimensions: 8x11

Price: $1,200

Availability: Available, ready-to-hang

Oils Cold Wax Abstract painting version 3

Baja Armor III:

Todos Santos

Artist: Lisa Tollner

Medium: Oil and cold wax on archival paper, mounted on 1" archival birch wood board

Dimensions: 8x11

Price: $1,200

Availability: Available, ready-to-hang

Synapse Series

A powerful companion abstraction exploring the hidden neurological currents that shape our perception of place. In Synapse: The Chartreuse Room, dense, velvety voids are balanced against illuminated chambers of electric chartreuse and slate blue. The sculptural, layered quality of the oil and cold wax gives the surface a rich, artifact-like presence. A vibrant, looping current of bright yellow tracks across the surface like a neural pathway, mapping the instant visual and mental triggers that fire when entering an environment. Designed to function beautifully as a standalone or paired alongside The Terracotta Room as a high-impact diptych.

 

Created in Todos Santos, Mexico, Synapse: The Terracotta Room is a deeply textured abstract meditation on spatial transition and psychological triggers. Heavy, scraped layers of midnight indigo and muted violet simulate independent architectural zones or 'rooms,' each housing a distinct emotional atmosphere. Cutting dynamically across the composition is a raw, calligraphic vein of terracotta red-orange—a visual synapse representing the sudden mental connection and cognitive shift that occurs when crossing the threshold into a new space.

Oils Cold Wax Abstract painting Synapse 1

Synapse:

Chartreuse Room

Artist: Lisa Tollner

Medium: Oil and cold wax on archival paper, mounted on 1" archival birch wood board

Dimensions: 8x11x1.5

Price: $950

Availability: Available, ready-to-hang

Oils Cold Wax Abstract painting Synapse 2

Synapse:

Terracotta Room

Artist: Lisa Tollner

Medium: Oil and cold wax on archival paper, mounted on 1" archival birch wood board

Dimensions: 8x11x1.5

Price: $950

Availability: Available, ready-to-hang

Tollner_Lisa_What Remains_8x11.JPG

What Remains

Artist: Lisa Tollner

Medium: Oil and cold wax on archival paper, mounted on 1" archival birch wood board

Dimensions: 8x11x1.5

Price: $950

Availability: Available, ready-to-hang

Painted in Todos Santos, Mexico, What Remains grew from thoughts about historic architecture and the people who imagined and built it centuries ago. Architectural forms, repeated marks and textured layers suggest walls, arches and fragments altered by time. Through the process of adding, scraping back and revealing layers of oil and cold wax, the painting considers what survives of a structure, and what remains of the ideas and hands that created it.

bottom of page