Life & Work with Roberta Gentry

Today we’d like to introduce you to Roberta Gentry.

Hi Roberta, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in southeastern Arizona. My parents lived out in the desert about 40 minutes from the nearest small town by dirt road, so I had a fairly isolated childhood.

I started painting somewhat seriously in high school and then more seriously in college. Painting has always been so exciting to me. The act of translating the world into a surface that is read by the viewer almost instantaneously is both incredibly difficult and infinitely rewarding.

A few years after finishing a BFA from the University of Arizona I moved to Albany, NY to get an MFA at the SUNY school there. After that, my partner and I moved to Los Angeles partly to escape the snow, which we never really got used to. We’ve been here eight years now, and my current studio is in El Sereno.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The number one struggle has always been balancing a studio practice with all the other things you need to do to survive as a person. I’ve gotten better at it over the years, but it certainly feels like spinning plates sometimes.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My current work is much more grounded in my own experiences than it’s ever really been before. I’ll see something like a shaggy eucalyptus tree or two cranes in a river and that image for whatever reason sticks with me and starts turning around and around and combining with other forms and concepts in my mind. Right now, I’m working on a painting that started as a translation of the colors and forms of manzanita trees but has also enveloped architectural domes and that classic red image of a black hole.

Lately, I’ve been working with thin, washy acrylic in order to build up the surface using multiple translucent layers. I taught a painting class recently and it got me thinking about using underpainting again. So I’ve been doing all the underpainting before adding much color and I’ve really been happy with that process.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Los Angeles is so endless, it’s like countless unique worlds disguised as one city. I do find it really magical at times and feel really fortunate to be able to live here. It’s so vast and nonstop. However, there are times I do find myself needing to hide away for a day or so before returning to the loop.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.robertagentry.com
• Instagram: @roberta__gentry