Nina Tisara began her art career as a freelance photographer for the Alexandria Port Packet, (now the Alexandria Gazette Packet) incorporating her own studio in 1985. Tisara Photography is now owned by her son, artist-photographer Steven Halperson. She founded the nonprofit Living Legends of Alexandria in 2007. Now retired from the photography studio and Living Legends, Tisara has focused on creating intricate mosaics.
Independent art critic Trudi Van Dyke, formerly director of the Friends of Torpedo Factory Art Center, wrote in the September edition of élan magazine, “Nina’s individualistic painterly style is founded in the incredibly tiny chips she meticulously crafts. Each small tile is cut numerous times by hand to just the perfect shape…’Serenity’ tackles a different challenge. One of several works with an ethnic inspiration she transforms a figurative study into a mosaic portrait. Her interpretation of the personality of the woman is captured with nuances of her facial features as well as the drapes and folds of the fabric enhancing her pose. As in all her work the background successfully plays the difficult role of receding and yet enhancing the subject.”
The public can see the collection at Mount Vernon Unitarian Church, 1909 Windmill Lane, Alexandria, VA, 22307 through December 28.
