We were lucky to catch up with Aliza Katzman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Aliza, appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I started out drawing on every surface for as long as I can remember, and a lot of my identity revolved around the arts, so it’s kind of funny that I never imagined myself being an “artist” until halfway through college. I went into undergrad for political science and was really interested in regulatory policy (like, government and NGO work) but kept painting on the side. During the summer after my sophomore year, though, I did an undergraduate residency at the New York Academy of Art and basically got to spend a month just taking art classes and making friends. It was a really magical month, all of us were caught up in this shared sense of wonder. It’s not hard to imagine that getting to spend every day making stuff and hanging out with friends made me feel like, “Wow, I could really do this as my main thing in life.” Of course, most professional artists know that such an ideal work-life balance is more of a dream than an expectation. Plus, after I went back to school, I got reabsorbed into all the aspects of political science that I loved and developed some serious momentum towards law school. Then the COVID-19 lockdown happened, I reconnected with my art practice, and I decided “hey, I can’t just leave this art thing on the backburner forever” and decided to try for an MFA program.
That being said, it wasn’t until the second semester of my last year of art school that I felt fully committed to being a capital-A “Artist”, and that was kind of a sudden revelation springing from being so immersed in my program. I felt that I had gained so much from pursuing my interest in the arts seriously, and it felt like that meant turning away from this exploration, this unearthing I started would be like turning away from myself. I would consider that my real turning point, where I really decided to commit to art in a serious way. That being said, the idea of a “professional” artist is interesting too; a lot of artists I know (most of them, really) that are working professionals work other jobs that support their practice, many of which are completely unrelated to the arts (or at least artmaking). So the reality of maintaining a serious art practice as an adult makes me wonder what being a professional or serious artist really means. Does it mean shows, interviews, fellowships, residencies? Anyways, I would say I first considered an artistic path seriously in undergrad, but I didn’t really /know/ I wanted this until I was about to graduate from my MFA at Pratt! Hahaha
Aliza, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Ok, I will try to answer this one as clearly as I can since it’s such a big question. I’m a fine artist (or at least a decent one) and I specialize in 2-D mediums, namely painting, drawing, and printmaking. I have been drawing on anything I could find since I can remember, including my mom’s car door with a rock at one point (I’m available for commission, if anyone is bored with their current paint job). My current work is largely representational, mostly oil paintings, drawings, and monotypes these days. I’ve spent a lot of time in printshops and I love the printmaking community, but direct drawing has been my thing since day one. I’m really inspired by the graphic arts, the comics scene, and pretty much any form of storytelling.
I think having access to rich stories has shaped my life in a big way, and I think a lot of my love for the arts comes from a desire to participate in that storytelling community. Now, I’ve always loved books, comics, movies, games, music, etc. since I was young, but I think that immersion has transformed as I got older. The immersive and inherent intrigue of good storytelling is good on its own, but as I grew up and started to have to figure out my own identity as an individual, having access to a multiplicity of stories was very stabilizing, or at least comforting, or even pleasurable. I have a multicultural background and grew up between two different households, found my queer identity at a young age (middle school) and realized I was trans (non-binary) in the last few years, so narratives are kind of unavoidable if I want to be at all intelligible to other people. So I think the pure curiosity that drew me to artwork as a kid has evolved into a more thoughtful appreciation for the potential that artwork has to help us understand the world around us and how we interact with it. So now, I’m making paintings, drawings, and some original writing with the intention of evaluating, questioning, appreciating, experimenting with all the different narrative frameworks we encounter in our daily lives, cultures, religions, myths, and media.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I mentioned it earlier, so I guess I should expand on this topic. It feels like old news to me at this point, but for those who don’t know my background, my change to the arts is kind of a fun story. I was finishing up my last year of my bachelor’s degree, focusing on political science and political economy. I was fascinated by public policy and international relations, loved learning history and felt I really excelled at research and analysis. I felt a kind of hope and catharsis in solving issues in our world theoretically, even if my only audience was my peers and professors. So, to pivot away from a law school track and decide to pursue the fine arts was confusing for me both emotionally and practically; I definitely felt conflicted. At the end of the day, though, I realized I was missing a part of myself as long as I tried to keep treating the arts like a casual side-interest. There is plenty of room for creativity and expression in all kinds of work, but I’ve been an artist my entire life, and it was time to stop pretending like it was something I could live without.
The COVID-19 lockdown was a difficult but unique circumstance in that society at large stopped taking normality for granted. With my momentum disrupted and my daily life completely restructured, it felt like a now or never moment. I felt like if I was going to finally give this part of myself the space and attention it deserved, I may as well do it now. So I researched graduate art programs and applied to just one. I had remembered the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts from undergrad, when I was choosing between schools. I remembered that I almost went there for a joint BFA/BA program – it was the “what if” that I had passed over in favor of doing Political Science at UC Berkeley (which, by the way, I don’t regret at all!) I didn’t get into their MFA off the bat (not a surprise, I barely had a portfolio or a statement, and knew next to nothing about the professional art world) but I did get into their Post-Baccalaureate program, and studied there for a year to prepare for an MFA. Some crazy stuff happened, I got a workplace injury during application season which messed up my whole cycle, but I applied last minute to Pratt Institute in the spring and got into their Painting & Drawing MFA. And so I moved to New York, and had to learn a lot very quickly. And now I’m still here, having just graduated a month ago in May.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I mean, even the fact that there’s some brutal gatekeeping in the art world is something that people might not know unless they’re at least somewhat connected to the arts community already. I knew absolutely nothing about the professional art world until my MFA program.
There are SO MANY resources for artists out there if you know where and how to find them! All the sites like NYFA and Creative Capital that compile info are great, but there’s a lot out there and a lot of great opportunities are not well advertised. It’s a classic issue of matching your product to your target audience. There are a few things that I wish I had known earlier: all kinds of programs for young artists, like specialty art schools, arts internships for students, and definitely all the summer programs (I didn’t even know about programs like the Norfolk School of Art summer residency for undergraduates). Another thing: local arts organizations that provide instruction and support, like the Art Students League in New York. I grew up in California, and there are some awesome local arts organizations in the Bay Area, like Kala Art Institute in Berkeley. A huge one is probably all the grants and fellowships that are available (like the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant) for young and early-stage artists. Of course, knowing about residencies is also huge – it’s also nice to get experience applying to these programs, because applying itself is a skill that you have to hone over the years.
Ultimately though, I would say the best resource is always going to be other artists, art professionals, and people that you trust to have valuable insight. Any chance to talk to or listen to someone who is going to cut the BS with you and give you a peek behind the curtain is incredibly valuable. Someone who will talk to you about pricing work, approaching galleries or organizations, figuring out a work-life balance…although artists can be kind of unapproachable, try going to an artist talk that’s open to the public, or reach out to a professor at your local school, or even just try getting in touch with an artist you admire through social media or email. You might be surprised by how open some people are, although it can be a hit or miss approach. I grew up on the internet, so I’m biased towards that resource. Before I studied art in college I learned everything I knew from youtube videos and artists online (anyone remember the days of DeviantArt and Tumblr?). Some places have a great local art scene, some places don’t. If you don’t have great resources in an accessible vicinity, learn about/from artists online – check out what they did, where they show, what their journey has been – learn by example, and if you can, get in touch!!! Good luck!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alizakatzman.com
- Instagram: @alizakatzman
Image Credits
Federico Savini (for some not all images)