Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Terrazzo.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born in Colorado in the early eighties… before all the pot made it cool. My parents were incurably insane people who walked me into some pretty horrible fires. My mother abandoned me at age 6; I saw our roommate kill herself at age 8, and went to too many bad places where I had to just pray that I got home safe. But other than that it was great. I spent most of my time in my room watching old movies, writing plays on a vintage typewriter and dreaming about Paris. My only goal was to play Blanche Dubois on stage, which I did in high school to rave reviews (not really… and I wonder why I had no friends??). So after that, naturally I turned to art. I began my career with found objects, creating things from nothing but garbage. Portraiture and narrative came next as I expanded my abilities and my views.
Please tell us about your art.
My art has always been about communication. I love to explore the way a subject can communicate a story through art. I think thats why I was so drawn to creating art with the newspaper after working primarily as a painter for many years. In 2007 I traveled to London for the first time. In order to get from Heathrow Airport to the city, you need to take the tube. Upon my arrival, I walked into the train to sit down and noticed the floor was littered up to my knees with newspapers. Londoner’s get free papers, read them on their journey and throw them on the floor of the train. I happened to be all alone on that particular tube, and it’s a long way into London. When I got off the train, my hands dirty with newspaper ink, I had a pretty good idea where I wanted to take my art.
I love portraiture old and new, but I really wanted to find a new and interesting way to show it. Enter: newspapers. Using the newspapers and vintage text to create the heart of the story of the person I am drawing creates a fuller understanding of the subtext. Or, sometimes, the joke I’m trying to make.
Since 2007, every year three newspapers go out of business in the US. In 2011, “Newsweek” magazine went digital and stopped printing. Newspapers and magazines have so drastically changed their format that they have become tabloid–just trying to hold on to any gory headline for ad money. And now information has gone digital. And now everybody knows everything and knows nothing at the same time.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
Success is always changing. I’ve been lucky to exhibit my work in every gallery I set out to be in when I started. But at the end of each show, I never felt successful. Selling a painting used to define my success, and that very quickly did not make me very happy as I was making things, not for me, but what I thought people wanted. Not success. For me, what defines my journey in the art world, is making a real and honest connection with the work. That is often the scariest and most difficult aspect of art. Really opening yourself up and laying it all on the dance floor, or in this case canvas.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Saatchi to buy – https://www.saatchiart.com/annieterrazzo
my website to learn – http://www.annieterrazzo.com
Insta to… stalk – @annieterrazzo
I’m having a solo show opening in Santa Monica May 31st 2019 6 to 8pm, private view only email me for info [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.annieterrazzo.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @annieterrazzo
Image Credit:
Nick Copus
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