Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Sherwood.
Hi Stephanie, 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 have been working as an artist, curator and arts administrator in Los Angeles for many years now since completing my degree in Fine Art from Cal State Long Beach. My journey through it all has been quite an adventure and I’ve grown quite a lot in those various realms. My art practice and my curatorial practice both tend to be rather nomadic and dependent on place so in that sense I am very tied to Los Angeles. I’ve always loved the city for a variety of reasons, I love the urban decay and beauty of it and the huge and diverse community of artists that live and work here. Artistically, I have been working through what has become a large series of works I call the Confine Series which are defined by imagery of soft, flesh-like materials bound within a rigid structure like a basket. This series started out as paintings on panels or canvas and has expanded into a more sculptural realm which has proven to be quite compelling. I’ve also been developing my practice as a curator working on various exhibitions with my artist collectives Somewhere in LA (SILA) and Acceptable Risk LA (ARLA) as well as earlier this year a major solo curatorial project at Angels Gate Cultural Center entitled “PORTALS”.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Ah, there are always struggles! This is part of the journey, though. Particularly with creative endeavors, the path is not very clear and one typically has to trust the path forward. My art practice became much more physically demanding as I was creating much larger works which became a huge challenge. I had to be more considerate of the demands on my body and be very cognizant of my posture while painting as well as know when to take breaks. Another huge challenge came when the Hawthorne Arts Complex, which was home to many artists, closed in March of 2022. This displaced hundreds of artists, myself included, and we were all forced to find new places to store our artwork and new studio spaces. This also coincided with the conclusion of “PORTALS” at Angels Gate Cultural Center which meant I was overseeing the deinstallation of the exhibition whilst moving my studio – no small feat!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As an artist, I am primarily a painter. I love to paint. As I mentioned earlier, the Confine Series is what I’ve been developing over the past several years. After making many paintings and drawings of this subject matter, in 2019 I began what I called Confine In Situ. These were paintings I was making out on the streets of Los Angeles directly onto discarded furniture. I would spot something on the sidewalk or in an alleyway like a broken refrigerator, couch or mattress and return the following morning to make a painting on it. I would then take photos and videos of the piece and leave it where I found it for its ultimate delivery to the landfill. This series was very impactful to my practice and changed how I made work going forward. I was so curious to continue the project to see what meaning I could uncover. The pieces seemed to become many things: they were performance, painting, sculptural, installation, ephemeral and public art. They became about how these found objects already had a very visible history as furniture which, combined with my paintings expounded on the meaning of both. Ever since then I have been exploring how that series affected what I do in my studio through making my own sculptural objects combined with works on paper as well as taking objects from the street to incorporate into finished works. I’ve even had the opportunity to bring discarded furniture into galleries to create painted installations for visitors to experience in person – which is another exciting way to explore these ideas!
As a curator, “PORTALS” was my largest project to date and such a wonderful opportunity to grow in this realm, I was so honored to feature the work of Erin Harmon, Erika Lizée, Elana Mann, Yevgeniya Mikhailik, Alicia Piller, Adam Rabinowitz, Esther Ruiz, Howard Schwartzberg and Svetlana Shigroff at Angels Gate Cultural Center. The project was very focused on the community of San Pedro and its history with and location nearby the Port of Los Angeles. Each of the artist’s works spoke to the nature of portals as doorways or gateways and how they propel us toward change. I loved working on this project every step of the way and seeing it come to fruition. Curating is such a fantastic way of building networks of creative people and seeing those connections bring about success! Since the exhibition closed, I have loved seeing each of the incredible artists flourish in their own practices and I hold very dear the relationships I built while working on “PORTALS”. I look forward to future curatorial projects and continuing to work to support my fellow artists.
I am also thrilled to have had work on view recently at ArtShare LA in “L.A. Abstracted” as well as a solo exhibition of my work at Pierce College Art Gallery entitled “ill-contained”. Shout out to the fantastic LA Art Documents for featuring this show! I look forward to what 2023 will bring and making new work in the studio.
How do you think about luck?
Luck factors hugely into my art practice these days, particularly when it comes to the found objects in my work. I have to happen upon something that I could turn into an artwork whether by seeing it while moving through the city myself or being tipped off my a friend. Even then, I need to be able to get to it before it disappears and have the time to make the piece. Environmental factors play a huge part too when I am creating work out in public. Working in the early mornings, I found limits the factors which could impede the work such as running into people, having harsh lighting or bad weather. I suppose the weather in Los Angeles plays a role in the luck I have out in the world as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://stephaniesherwoodart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephanie_sherwood_art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephaniesherwoodart
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gpHq-sjaaA&feature=youtu.be
- Other: https://angelsgateart.org/gallery/portals-2/
Image Credits
Portrait while painting and photo of “Offload” by Jesus Martinez-Rizo. PORTALS photos by Justin Galligher courtesy of Angels Gate Cultural Center. Artists featured in PORTALS gallery photo (left to right): Erin Harmon, Svetlana Shigroff, Elana Mann, Alicia Piller, Esther Ruiz All other photos courtesy of Stephanie Sherwood.
