Lisa Dengler
Y: Hey Lisa :) Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
L: I grew up in Toronto, Canada. I was born in Germany, but we moved when I was very young, so I don’t really remember much from there. I have two older sisters, so I grew up surrounded by very feminine energy. I was the boyish one — always doing sports with my dad. He also taught me how to use a camera when I was 12 or 13. I’ve always been interested in the arts. My sister and I used to pass by this property under construction near our house, and we’d play by imagining what we’d do with the interior design. We had tons of magazines about interiors and architecture around us, too. My dad had wanted to be an architect but quit, and honestly, that’s probably the biggest reason why I ended up studying architecture.
Y: How did your fashion blogger journey start?
L: This whole strange journey of becoming a blogger actually began in high school. I taught myself how to code websites and was really into graphic design. So, after school, I’d design and code blogs just for fun. I swear, I had friends! (Haha.) My schedule was basically three math classes and a spare period. Math came really easily to me, so I’d finish all my homework during that spare and then had all this free time. Eventually, I started writing on those blogs — I’ve always been interested in writing.
I also remember during my second year of university, I did an internship in Germany and stayed at my grandma’s house. To entertain myself, I started a photography project where I took a photo of myself every day for a year. That was the first time I really got into fashion photography. From there, I began taking photos of myself and posting them online — all while I was in architecture school for about five years.
Then I finished my last semester, and the very same day I graduated, I moved to New York to become an ‘official’ blogger. Shortly after, I got signed by an agency — that was back in 2013.
Y: What did you learn the most from being a blogger and fashion influencer?
L: I think the biggest lesson was learning how to market myself and build a business from scratch — all things I never learned in school. Also, how to network, value myself, and set prices — the really practical, business side of things.
Y: When did you realize you were done with being a blogger?
L: Well, after living in New York, I moved to Los Angeles. About a year later, I started noticing that the industry—and the people in it—weren’t as genuine as I’d thought. As a Canadian, maybe I’m a bit gullible, thinking people are always happy and kind. But there’s a reason it’s not like that. The influencer world is deeply tied to the entertainment industry, which is just a very strange space. Around 2017 or 2018, I realized it just wasn’t for me anymore.
Y: How did the process of changing your career look?
L: I knew I wanted to get out of the influencer world, but I didn’t really know how — or what would come next—since I have so many different hobbies and interests. Art honestly wasn’t even on my radar because I grew up in an environment where you had to focus on academic things, and art wasn’t seen as academic back then. Then one Christmas, in December 2018, my ex gave me stone carving classes for a month.
So I took the class in February 2019. It’s funny because he actually wanted to get me ceramics classes, but those were much more expensive— and he personally prefers rocks over ceramics. When I opened the gift, I thought, “Wow, this is so random.” It was only once a week for a month, but I ended up loving it.
I started working on a 60-pound piece of alabaster, but since I didn’t really know what I was making, it ended up much smaller than it should have been—lots of stone got wasted, which you’re really supposed to avoid. By the end of the month, I still hadn’t finished.
So I thought, “What’s next?” I decided to rent an Airbnb for my birthday in March and worked on the stone in the garden. I just wanted to keep going, but I couldn’t do it in my apartment because it was too loud and dusty. It wasn’t about deciding, “I’m becoming a stone carver,” it was more that I genuinely enjoyed it and wanted to figure out how to keep doing it on the side.
Then I found a shared studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn, right on the water with a view of the Statue of Liberty from my window. I remember looking at the water every day and taking photos—it was just so beautiful. (I love water—I’m a Pisces.)
That’s when I really started exploring stone carving alongside other mediums like painting. It was such a fun and creative phase of my life! I kept buying stones and slowly making sculptures. It took me two years to complete nine pieces and launch my first collection in 2021.
Thankfully, thanks to my Instagram community, a store ended up buying some of my work, which led to clients and more opportunities from there.
Y: That’s amazing! So… what’s next?
L: I want to keep exploring other materials alongside stone carving, and keep experimenting with different practices. Once a month, I like to rent a house with a garden somewhere so I can work on projects in a fresh environment. I really want to keep making and focus on sculpture, but honestly, I just really love objects in general.
A conversation with artist Lisa Dengler at the artist residency Casa Balandra, Mallorca, March 2022
https://lisadengler.com
https://www.casabalandra.com
