The maker and explorer

Lisa Snellings has been listening to little strange things for a very long time.

Her work moves between sculpture, painting, story, and the tiny observers called Poppets.

Little Red Poppet sculpture by Lisa Snellings

From a chess pawn to a whole world.

The first Poppet was meant to be a pawn in a toy-themed chess set. Lisa kept the little figure close, made a few more, and soon began placing them in larger works. Over time, they became a language, a strange alphabet for the human stories we all recognize.

Some collectors find them sweet. Some find them a little unsettling. Lisa has always found room for both.

“My work tends to be stories that are either dark with elements of whimsy, or whimsical with elements of darkness.”
- Lisa Snellings
Walkabout sculpture by Lisa Snellings

A life in art

From galleries to tiny hands and dot eyes.

Lisa began her professional art career in 1991, exhibiting playful, macabre sculptures at science fiction, fantasy, and horror conventions. Her larger kinetic work, The Dark Caravan, inspired stories by writers including Neil Gaiman, Peter S. Beagle, Larry Niven, Gene Wolfe, and Jack Dann.

Today, she continues making art from Eugene, Oregon with a Poppet book, Tarot work, drawings, stories, and new little beings in progress.

Meet the books