We recently connected with Zoe Toscano and have shared our conversation below.
Zoe, 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.
My first big risk was starting a gallery with my artists friends in my hometown. I was young and in college, I had little experience in business and practically no money. I was fueled purely by excitement. My partners and I wanted to create a space that would serve as a platform for artists not otherwise being elevated by their local communities. I wanted to make a creative space younger me needed. The finical risk was hard enough to deal with but we opened an all female run gallery right when Trump became president. It felt like we were making ourselves more vulnerable to those who opposed are beliefs as creative women. We were open for several years just shy of when COVID began. It was hard but an incredibly rewarding experience. When I look back at it now years later I can really see how it shaped me into the artists I am today.
I am currently in the middle of my second big risk. Just like it had for everyone the pandemic really changed my life and after processing everything and moving out of the survival stage mentally, I felt very stagnant. So I decided to take another big risk and sell almost everything I own, move to New York and earn my Graduate degree. As a Cancer, I really love my comfort zone but I felt stuck and needed to make a big shift in my life. Although I’ve enjoyed so much of where this journey has taken me I still find myself scared of failure. But the lessons I learned from my first big risk in the art world have taught me so much. Even though that fear still lingers from time to time I am confident in my skills as a painter and I have a wonderful support system.
Zoe, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am born and raised in California and am currently living in Brooklyn, New York. After running a gallery in my hometown for a couple of years I decided to pursue my graduate degree at the School of Visual Arts. My practice is centered around oil painting but I also enjoy other mediums when it feels necessary to way I’m trying to express myself.
As a figurative artist, painting the human form allows me to contemplate and explore the complexities of human relationships through visual language. At this time, my work is centered around the female experience. I strive to reclaim the female gaze through depicting women in moments of strength and vulnerability. Another key component of my work is the complicated relationship between humans and nature — exploring our differences, similarities, and human’s ability to separate ourselves from nature.
I am constantly trying to understand my place in the world. I believe that is why I am creating work that is centralized around female identity. The essential questions that guide my practice are, what is a woman’s role in the world? How do women navigate themselves in a male dominated society? How do women conduct themselves in complicated relationships with other women? What is a woman’s relationship with the natural world? These are the questions that remain prevalent while I create and have become integral to my practice. I aim to inspire a sense of contemplation and connectivity with my viewers to deepen their understanding of the female experience through my paintings.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
As a female oil painter I want to share my art with the world and use my platform to make the world better place, specifically for women and marginalized communities. The art world is so vast and in a constant state of change which is fascinating and exciting. Occasionally I find it daunting, juggling the feelings of being confident in your skills and being open minded to new ideas and mediums. As a woman I think it so important to express yourself and I want my art to celebrate the freedom of expression. As an artist I want to help create that same freedom for others.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
There are so many incredible ways to support artists. A free and easy way is to share your favorite artists work on your instagram stories and engage with their post consistently. Consider buying art from local artists for holiday or birthday gifts, everyone loves art! There are so many artists in every corner of the world, it’s not hard to find art that can work with any budget. Another way to participate is to show up, artists post on social media about their shows all the time. Most are free and some openings even have wine, gallery openings also make for great date night ideas. Please please don’t give advice unless it is asked of you and stop asking how you’re going to make money as an artist. We are working very hard to make the “starving artists” stereotype a myth and you can help.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://zoetoscanoart.com/
- Instagram: zoetoscanoart