Mary Rosenberger

Q: When did you first become interested in art?

A: I first became interested in art at a young age, I come from a creative background. My mother does makeup and hair for a living, my father is a skilled writer and musician. When I moved to California from Kentucky in 2000, my mom went through a depression and became an art teacher for elementary school children. She introduced art to me when I was 3 years old, holding her hand over mine as we would draw.

Q: Do you think your childhood has had a strong influence on your artistic background?

A: My childhood had a huge effect on my creative background. I am an only child and my parents, although married, were very distant with each other. I felt incredibly lonely growing up, never having many friends or other family around me. My parents didn’t have cable and I wasn’t allowed to have video game consoles. I spent a lot of time watching old movies and drawings. My art kept me company, drawing was one of my escapes.

Q: Who or what would you say is your greatest artistic influence?

A: My greatest artistic influence is a hard thing to pinpoint. I find inspiration everywhere I go, from the shapes of the food I eat to the way the sky turns color. It is unfair in such an inspiring world for me to rank my greatest influence, as there are so many contributing factors that add to my work. As for artists, I enjoy the portraits of Marlene Dumas, the illustrated poems of Garcia Lorca, and the intense lines of André Masson. My boyfriend (@andremoya_) is an incredible painter and musician. Watching him work also played a huge benefactor in inspiring me to make art again (after a very long hiatus).

Q: How would you describe your artistic style?

A: I would describe my style to be simplistically powerful. I want to show my fellow artists and other people interested in making art that it’s not always about completing a Da Vinci masterpiece. Art is about conveying your emotions, the feelings your words are at a loss for.

Q: Do you tend to be more of an introvert or extrovert, and does that have an effect on your art?

A: I am a complete and even mix of introvert and extrovert. I love being around people, I’m extremely outgoing. I yearn for humanly connection. Then again at the same time, people exhaust me. Being an only child I enjoy my personal space, my time alone to think and grow. As much as I love surrounding myself with friends and like minded creative people, it is essential for me to isolate myself at times in order to produce my best work.

Q: Have your beliefs (Spiritual or not) influenced your art (if so, how strongly?)

A: I think it’s natural for an artist’s beliefs, spiritual or not to impact their workeven when it is totally subconscious. I find so much beauty and strength in women, it’s a huge reason in why I enjoy drawing them so much. So yes, I would say that my beliefs do transcend strongly into my artwork.

Q: When people view your art, what effect do you hope it has on the viewer?

A: Art is all about depth. About seeing beyond. About your own interpretation. I suppose ideally I would like people to feel inspired by what I do. Though I think about the effects it will have, I do not worry or lose sleep about it. I make art for my own happiness, my own satisfaction. I love hearing the diverse comments I receive, the way people may interpret the brush strokes of my abstract paintings. In turn there is no real “hope” that I have when I make art besides the hope that someone out there sees what I have done and feels proactive in making their own artistic footprint.

Q: Lastly, would you like for your art to have a legacy?

A: I think that the word legacy in relation to the art world is incredibly ambiguous. To some legacy might mean millions of paintings in galleries all over the world whereas someone else, like myself, might see that my “legacy” is already in production. The fact I have work to leave, poetry to read, paintings to circulate around, I feel that I have already been successful at leaving a trail of inspiration behind. And what is a legacy if not a trail of inspiration? In conclusion I want to make as much art as possible. I want to contribute even more to what I have already started.