We recently connected with Marcy Rosenblat and have shared our conversation below.

Marcy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I was asked to be a part of an annual event called Counter Point 10, produced by Jason Andrew and Julia Gleich of Norte Maar. Every year Andrew and Gleich pair a group of female visual artists with female choreographers and give them two months to create a dance. The call came to me out of the blue. I had never made anything three dimensional before, never collaborated with anyone, and never met Amanda Treiber Scales, the person I would collaborate with. But I decided to do it anyway!
Entering the process as a painter with a solitary studio practice was both daunting and exhilarating. Working across disciplines gave me the opportunity to create something I’d never done before. I can’t say enough about how significant it was to participate in Counterpoint. Taking that risk added a layer to who I am as an artist and the way I now think about my work. And, to my surprise it got picked up by The New York Theater Ballet and is currently on tour.

Marcy, 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?

I live and work in Brooklyn with my husband, who is also an artist. I’ve had solo exhibitions at Smith College, MA, Blend Studio, TN, and The Rawls Museum, VA. Most recently, I had a solo show at 490 Atlantic, Brooklyn, and a solo online exhibition presented by Jason Mccoy Gallery, with a talk moderated by Stephanie Buhmann. I also participated in Norte Maar’s Counterpoint 10, collaborating with choreographer Amanda Treiber Scales. Our collaboration “Sideslip “is currently being performed by the New York Theater Ballet. Other exhibitions include: Zurcher Gallery, Fordham University, Galerie Berlin am Meer, Germany, Salisbury University, The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kouros Gallery, Frumkin Gallery and Kathryn Markel Fine Arts. I received my BFA from Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and I got an artist’s grant from the Women’s Art Development Committee in 1998.
I spent my childhood in the Chicago area. My parents were first generation Americans, with a pragmatic focus, so art wasn’t talked about much. I remember sketching and the realization that I could invent just about anything with only a pencil and paper. As an adolescent, a tumultuous time for me, art was both grounding and magical. In high school I was introduced to the idea of going to art school, and as soon as I could, I applied. There I learned to paint from observation and adopted a work ethic that has stayed with me over the years. I moved to the east coast because my paintings had more affinity to a European tradition.
After college I continued to work from observation, but before too long realized I had a story to tell. During the 80’s I made large allegorical paintings. Often with heroic females figures, where the skirt played a narrative role. I also traveled to Europe to pay homage to my favorite painters. I carried a small pad and watercolor set and in every museum visit I chose paintings to a work from.
I ended up in Samos, Greece with the intention of painting landscapes, but fell in love with the way the light hit the stucco walls and ended up painting the architecture. The Mediterranean light remains an influence in my work.
I began to paint abstractly in the 90’s after my son was born. His birth helped me clarify what I was doing and my paintings paired down quite a bit. I think a lot about how our past colors our present and is always a part of who we are. The process of painting synthesizes visual and emotional recollection, allows for recording, uncovering, observing, and sharing what is most important to me.
My current work uses the interplay between pattern and form to create content. The lace-like layer of paint and curvilinear forms suggest the feminine while refusing figuration. And like lace—which both covers and reveals—I want the viewer to be pulled in close. I feel my early figurative work and years of painting abstractly have come together. So, I was thrilled when Adam Simon, reviewed my last show in Two Coats of Paint, and said “Formal concerns are priorities for most painters. Their fine calibration is a particular strength of Rosenblat’s work, and one quality that makes the realm of not-quite-abstract-and-not-quite-representational art so compelling.”

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There is so much about being in a creative field that’s rewarding. A significant benefit is that my working life will never be over. Being an artist gets better as you age because life experience only enhances your work.
Being an artist can also be challenging. But it’s also true that you can always discover something new when you’re working through problems. Problem solving is equivalent to discovery and the process of finding something new is incredibly gratifying. For instance, my current work is related in content to previous work I’ve made, but it has gone from figuration to abstraction. Besides wanting to create paintings, I have a deep desire to see other artist’s work, and I derive a lot of pleasure from visiting my friends’ studios. Painting also has a vast history to engage with, which also enriches my life. In fact, I’m answering these questions from Italy, where I’ve had a chance to reacquaint myself with some of my favorite painters such as Piero Della Francesca and Giorgio de Chirico.
I also I taught at the college level for many years and found great satisfaction engaging with other creative minds and facilitating individual growth.
Whether it’s painting in the studio, visiting another artist or going to a museum, I feel extremely fortunate to be able to wake up every day and do something I care deeply about.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I find the hardest thing for people to understand is that getting paid for time spent working is not guaranteed. Most professions have a direct relationship to earning a living. In fact, many professions are chosen with that in mind. You go to work and then receive a paycheck. Artists have a unique relationship to the material world. Of course, we all want to sell our work, but it’s not why we do it. And that gives us a certain freedom that’s hard to come by. We’re fueled by faith. Faith that we have something to say, faith that someone will see our work and see something they’ve never seen before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marcyrosenblat.com
• Instagram: @o.rosenblat
• Facebook: marcy rosenblat

Image Credits

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