We were lucky to catch up with Susan Rostan recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Susan , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Writing Digging: Lifting the Memorable from Within the Unthinkable was my most meaningful project. Memorializing the story and helping my husband’s uncle Marian find the descendants of the people who saved his life and the lives of other family members so that they could be recognized as “Righteous” by Yad Vashem was life-changing.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I have been an artist most of my life, tutored by my grandmother, who had her own atelier. My interest in artistic development was instinctive, and an undergraduate degree in psychology gave me a greater understanding of visual thinking and problem solving. My grandmother retired in 1970, and I took over her atelier and have been working with developing artists since then.
After earning an MFA in painting, I continued my studies in a doctoral program, focusing on creativity in artists and scientists. My published scholarly writing began in 1992, after completing my doctorate, and much of my subsequent academic research and writing focused on children developing their artistic talent and creativity.
My non-academic writing has been in the realm of narrative nonfiction. Digging: Lifting the Memorable from Within the Unthinkable, published in 2013, was the story of how a few members of my husband’s family survived World War II in Warsaw, Poland. My current project is also narrative nonfiction, exploring the life and art of the painter Stan Brodsky. I am exploring the emergence and evolution of artistic and creative thinking in this endeavor.
I am also writing for NAWA NOW, the National Association of Women Artists magazine, interviewing members for special consideration. In addition, I am co-leading NAWA’s Historical Research team, developing biographies of NAWA Presidents, past and present. My blog, NAWA Luminaries, appearing in the newsletter and on the website (www.thenawa.org), is the intersection of NAWA’s Historical Research and current exhibitions around the United States, highlighting celebrated NAWA members, bringing short biographies of past and present NAWA members to the limelight.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
My writing isn’t explicitly related to my artwork, but it is related to my thinking as an artist. I need to empathize with their work and artistic development to write about another artist or elicit meaningful discussions with another artist. This kind of empathy emerges from my own practice. For example, my interest in color relationships, composition, and movement sensitizes me to these qualities in the work of other artists. This sensitivity also plays a part in my choice of words to describe a scene and my awareness of the visual quality of my writing.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My studio practice is a necessary part of my daily engagements with my creative impulses. After decades of research and a significant investment in writing narrative nonfiction, I needed the hands-on manipulation of color and medium to satisfy my need to generate new ideas and visual experiences. The consequences of my immersion in artistic development have included a deeper understanding of my work and the evolving flexibility in choosing which enterprise I need to focus on. My abstract paintings have evolved from emotional responses to intimate human relationships to portraiture and recently to explorations of the colors and shapes in my environs. The images express my emotional state and thinking as I spontaneously connect to the worlds I inhabit.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.susanmrostan.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/susanmrostan/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/susanmrostan/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/susanmrostan
- Other: https://thenawa.org/nawa-luminaries
Image Credits
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