A Festive Conversation with Samantha Rosenwald

Photo Credit : Dylan Best

Samantha Rosenwald is an American visual artist based in Los Angeles. She graduated from Vassar College and got her MFA from the  California College of the Arts. Her artwork has been exhibited widely nationally and internationally in galleries and such art spaces as Stems Gallery, Carl Kostyal, Room 57 Gallery, Sebastian Gladstone, Annarumma Gallery, and Eve Leibe Gallery. Her work explores the many complexities of the world and our society by examining the dogmas in art history. 

I had the pleasure of asking her if she could be taught by any artist who it would be and why, why she explores the dogmas of art history, and so much more.

UZOMAH: What has been the hardest thing about choosing art as a career?

SAMANTHA:  The open schedule, for sure. I work well when I have specific deadlines and hours of work, so having to discipline myself and create my own routine has been a learning process for sure. It’s hard to not feel anxious when I choose not to work – the thought that I could be accomplishing more in any free moment is a bit consuming, unlike a 9 to 5 job. But all that being said, I am very happy and lucky to be an artist!

U: If you could be taught by any artist, who would it be and why?

S:   Definitely Louise Bonnet. She is one of my favorite artists of all time. The way she conceptualizes the female body and conveys witty and poignant criticism through the distortion of form is so inspiring. I’d love to hear more about her thoughts, work, and point of view directly.

Urban Clowning, 2022 Colored pencil on canvas 32x28"

U: You often explore the dogmas of art history, creating wildly absurd, personal, and darkly funny portraits. Why this direction? What is your inspiration when you create?

S: Life is just a collage of our individual and collective histories. I don’t think much is new under the sun: in the art world, or the world in general. I think being alive, when you really think about it, is so painful at times that you can’t help but laugh. Using personal histories and cultural histories as inspiration, I like to think about where I am now in this moment, where women are in this moment, or where all people are in this moment. Doing that through a lens of comedy and detached absurdity is usually my starting off point. 

Samba-dy to Love, 2022 Colored pencil on canvas 40x40"

U: Why do you choose to use colored pencils as your primary creation tool?

S:  Colored pencils, first and foremost, are just so nice to use. I love them. On a more conceptual level, they lend themselves to the comedic and frantic subjects I address in my work. They have childish and craft-like connotations, which are the antithesis of serious, old-master work – a contrast I think is interesting and fitting. Making large colored pencil compositions on such a traditional material as canvas feels like a near-impossible or comically challenging task. My work thinks a lot about emotional labor, self-sacrifice, and overachievement, so the colored pencil on canvas, to me, rhymes with that and evokes a desperate, frantic, and pointless labor—a labor that is anal, dark, and a little funny.

U: How do you incorporate humor into your paintings?

S: Humor is often how I express myself – in real life and in my work. I’ve always used humor as a tool to mask insecurities or pain. It is so much at the tip of my tongue at all times; it’s hard not to have it shine through in my paintings. I think human emotion is so insane. Crying and laughing are so closely tied together, for example, more so than we think. Comedy doesn’t always have to be funny; it can be embarrassing, anxious, or deeply sad. In general, I find comedy helpful in delving into any sort of emotional complexity, and I like my paintings to operate that way as well. 

My Garden, My Flowers, 2021 Colored pencil on canvas 38x30"

U: To date, what is your strongest statement piece that best explores your artistic statement?

S: That’s a tough question. What comes to mind is a large painting I made for my grad school thesis show called I’m Dying Up Here. It was an approximately 7 ft tall painting of a huge partially peeled lemon with a cartoon frowny face. Next to it was a paper scrap that read, “I skin my knee, I bleed,” and a magazine cut out of a naked woman with big boobs and a narrow waist. I chose a lemon for the protagonist to mimic the phrase, “a lemon of a …”. So this was a lemon of a painting – a failure or embarrassment. Around the lemon are reminders of perfection, failure, and labor. 

U: How do you prepare for solo shows and group shows? Is the process any different or similar?

S:   The main differences between preparation for a solo show or a group show are the amount of work and the subject of the work. With a solo show, I tend to start with a really strong concept for the whole show – one that would be fruitful enough to spawn ten or so paintings. For a group show, I usually only contribute one or two works, so I focus a concept to a narrow scope. Also, typically in a group show, the theme is dictated by the gallery or curator, so I don’t have as much flexibility on the subject matter. I’d say planning for a solo show comes more from the heart – I really search my whole being to find a subject that really needs to be addressed, almost like therapy.

Intellectual Property, 2021 Colored pencil on canvas 36x28"

U: What were the most memorable things or iconic places in Los Angeles that influenced your artistic style?

S: Growing up in LA, in general, has been a big influence on me. Being an awkward, weird little kid surrounded by the glamor and extravagance of LA definitely encouraged me to rely on humor as a tool of deflection or self-preservation. That, combined with the aspirational culture of LA, is very evident in who I am as a person and how my work can be interpreted. All that being said, though, I do love LA. The people are slower, take their time, and talk to their neighbors. It’s such a mixed bag of fake and real, easy and hard, slow and fast, bright and dark, and I think that’s super interesting to dissect.

Find more about Samantha’s work on her website and follow her on Instagram.