We recently connected with C.a. Shofed and have shared our conversation below.

Hi C.a., thanks for joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

In general I think photography as art has been mischaracterized. I don’t know how many times I have applied to or have been offered exhibits as a photographer and not as an artist or read the statement “artists and phototgraphers” can apply or some words to the affect. Photography is art. It’s a medium like any other. I consider myself a contemporary artist and my medium is photography. It bothers me that some make that distinction that photography is some subdivision or lesser than any other medium.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The story of how I became an artist starts with me moving to Trenton around 2007. Trenton happens to have a vibrant art community which I feel is anchored by Artworks Trenton. Artworks runs several different exhibits and programs where Trentionians and members of the surrounding community can submit artwork they have created to exhibit. Once upon a time I went to college for advertising design and there I fell in love with photography. Artworks provided me the oppurtunity to explore photography again but this time as a creative. Artworks really ignited my love for art. In 2009 my first transplanted kidney failed and derailed my career in IT. My new transplanted kidney came in 2011. During my recovery I decided I wanted to be a full time working artist. Photography would be my medium. I remember saying to myself . “what type of artist was I going to be?” I didn’t want to create landscapes. I didn’t want to shoot portraits. I began to explore color while shooting scenes of nature in an urban enviroment. My style morphed and changed over time.  I began to hear the word “painterly” being used to describe my work. I should’nt have been surprised by that description as my inspirations were in fact painters, Turner and Prendergast to name a few. As my worked changed so to did how I worked as an artist. I made it a goal to exhibit somewhere every month. I made sure I tracked my inventory and that I showed up for openings. I tracked my costs so I was pricing things correctly and making sure I was paying myself. Most importantly I was calling myself an artist. I excited by the fact that I’ve created work that people want to collect. Consistency and working hard were paid off. I love that other artists want to work and collaborate with me. It’s through those endeavors that I learned and continued to grow.

Every artist wants their work to be recognizable and I’m no different. To be recognized, to have your work move someone to jump with excitement knowing they own a piece of your work. To have a group of people standing in front of your artwork in some gallery discussing it. Those moments bring me so much joy.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Throughout my career as an artist my goal has been to exhibit at the Guggenhiem. Simple goal right!? It’s this goal that has kept me motivated during the times that I wasn’t feeling creative or getting reponses from the galleries I wanted to hear from or selling my art as consistently as I wanted. I realized that the Guggenheim goal wasn’t just about creating a pretty pictures and waiting for someone to discover me. If I wanted my work to grace the walls of museums with the stature of a Guggenheim I was also going to need a resume that showed my progress as an artist. I would needed to show up consistently at exhibits I excepted into. I would need to be professional and have a good body of work. I needed to always be working the Guggenheim mission.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There is a story I tell about this husband and wife who are collectors of my work. Around 2014 I began experimenting with my artwork. I created a body of work called reflection-ism. I was starting to create more abstract work by printing my images on glass and metal and then combining these printings to created abstracts. One of these pieces intrigued the wife of these collectors so much that each time she came to my studio she would make a beeline for that one particular piece. She would study that piece long moments. One day she came by and I told her to take one last look at it because I was about to wrap it up for its new owner. Disappointment registered on her face and she turned to her husband and said I should have bought this when I had the chance. I wrapped up the piece and handed it to her and said I’m giving it to its new owner. She looked at me bewildered. I told her, that her husband had purchased for her months ago, but was waiting to give it to her. The pure joy and excitement this brought to her was something I’ll never forget! That a piece of my art could make someone jump and scream with joy because of a piece of work I created. That’s what I do this for! That is the reward!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amphorartworks.com
• Instagram: @shofedart
• Facebook: C.a. Shofed
• Linkedin: C.a. Shofed
• Twitter: n/a
• Youtube: n/a
• Yelp: n/s

Image Credits
All artwork is by me, C.a. Shofed “Color by the ATL” “507Minus507” “A Jacob View” “Reflection-ism 1” Portrait of my by Keren Fedida