We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cheryl Prisco a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cheryl, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

As with all artists, I need to make for my overall wellbeing; it is a necessity, a compulsion. I did not surrender to it completely however until relatively recently at the age of 55. Why now? I can not say for certain but I believe it was the experience of almost losing my partner back in 2017. That abrupt reminder of mortality and transience has made me feel an intensity and urgency in everything.

As is human nature I often wondered “what if.” What if I had started my career as an artist sooner? What if I hadn’t been so timid and insecure as a young woman? What if I had been brave enough to dream big? The reality is that I am right where I need to be now, today. The circuitous journey that most of us experience in life is a necessity to grow and become fully actualized regardless of one’s profession. In regards to starting something new later in life, Absolutely Yes!

FYI – My circuitous journey included being a package designer, PR manager for an amusement park, mother, education paraprofessional, Realtor, small business owner, and political activist before finding my calling as an artist…no straight intentional line in that trek!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

I am an abstract artist based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I was born in Connecticut but have lived most of my adult life in the South, 16 years in Savannah, Georgia, 12 years in Boone, North Carolina. My media is primarily wood which I paint and shape, creating abstract low relief assemblages. While abstract, my work is not independent from visual reference or meaning. It is a modern typography, a visual dialogue, a story. I marvel at the artwork of children as their creations reflect a raw emotion, spontaneity, and narrative. I approach making in the same manner, open and connected to the elemental while addressing subjects from the pressing sociopolitical issues of the day to the ordinary and temporal. Inspiration is the unexpected; utilizing found objects and salvaged materials encourages improvisation and demands an immediacy. In a throw away society building lasting items of beauty is an act of resistance. My work furthers this ethos by taking discarded materials, wood scrap, architectural salvage and turning it into objects of artistry and permanence.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

When our son started applying to art schools his senior year of high school, the school guidance counselor questioned the wisdom of his choice. She exclaimed “you’re so smart, you can do anything, why major in art!” That statement is a reflection of the U.S. society’s lack of understanding and respect for the importance and value of the arts.

In our primary schools art is usually the first program to be cut when there are budgetary strains. Our society considers art as dispensable, unnecessary, frivolous, elitist. This is so wrongheaded and detrimental; a thriving creative ecosystem is essential to a prosperous and healthy society. Storytelling is fundamental to being human. It is what binds society, helping us to create an emotional connection to each other. This storytelling is accomplished through the arts – visual, music, dance, literature. We need to have a renewed commitment to the arts and rethink today’s venerated modes of connection – money, brashness, and vapid noise. “We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom” (E.O. Wilson). The arts feed our hearts and open our minds. It isn’t frivolous, it is essential.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I do not have a particularly interesting story from my journey that illustrates my resilience. It is resilience, however, that is the most valuable asset for success. There are so many amazing, smart, and talented individuals out there but talent and smarts only go so far. One needs resilience and, truth be told, luck. You are more likely to cross paths with good fortune if you keep putting yourself out there. For many of us, that is the hardest part.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cherylprisco.art
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cherylprisco.art
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpBJLONslk8
• Other: https://thehaengallery.com/artists/cheryl-prisco