Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Interview with Rosemarie Fiore

q)Let's start with the basics; what's your full name,where do you live, and how old are you?

a)Rosemarie Fiore.I live in New York City in the Bronx.I am 35 years old.

q) Do you have any formal training?

a)I received my undergraduate degrees in studio art and art history at the University of Virginia. I spent my last year studying in London at the Wimbledon School of Art and in Florence at Studio Art Center International. In addition to my studies in Florence,I apprenticed at Studio Garossi learning fine art restoration.I completed my graduate work at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received my MFA in Fiber and Material Studies.

q) Did the place you grew up in influence your image making?

a)As a child, I experienced both country and city living. I lived in a beautiful small town in New York state and was very close to the many cultural offerings of New York City. I grew up in what is now the suburbs of New York City.It was really more rural back then. We had a small farm on our block where we got our fresh produce and eggs. I went to county fairs, hung out at the local mall and fished with my brother in the surrounding ponds. As a child, I spent a good amount of time in New York City as well. My grandparents settled in the Italian section of the Bronx in the late 1800's. They still lived there and my parents taught in the Bronx publics chool system. I remember the fig trees, grape vines and pastry shops in the neighborhood. Sicilian was spoken in the streets. Everyone was a Yankees baseball fan.My father and grandmother were both amateur painters and opera fanatics so we went regularly to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the MOMA. In the Fallon Sunday nights, I would go to the City Opera with my father. All my imagery is informed by these early experiences and influences.

q) How do you come up with your concepts?

a)My ideas usually come to me while I am in the middle of an experience. I recognize the raw idea or concept and then usually bounce it off of a close friend for their reaction. The dialog that ensues permits the idea to ferment in my creative subconscious. The revised project emerges in sketch or written form sometime later.For example, the idea for my Scrambler Project came tome when I was at Kings Dominion Amusement Park in Virginia. I was riding the Scrambler ride there with a friend and I noticed that we were rotating as if we were part of a giant spirograph machine. I discussed this with my friend and we wondered if I could somehow attach a very large marker to the bottom of the ride. That day I wrote down the idea in my sketchbook. It wasn't until a few years later that I met with Stacy Switzer at Grand Arts, a non-profit arts space in Kansas City. I worked closely with Grand Arts' staff while we fine tuned the project. There were a lot of details to work out starting with designing the spray delivery system. There was no guarantee of what the paintings would look like. It is only because of GrandArts' strong faith and commitment to my original concept that the work was completed.

q) Describe your creations in a clear, concise and understandable sentence. What do you call them?

a)Since in my work I use many different concepts and mediums it is very difficult to answer that question in one concise sentence. It would be best to visit my website www.rosemariefiore.com and read about what I've written concerning each of my projects.

q)What other mediums would you like to explore in your image making?

a)I'd like to experiment with Bronze and aluminum casting as well as fiber based technology.

q)What is the best time in the day for you to work on a project? Is there one, or is it more about the environment -- maybe the right mood?
a)I prefer to work at night.

q) What are your artistic influences?...and generally who or what influences you the most?

a)I try to keep myself immersed in all the arts. I go to museums and galleries and the theater as often as I can. Experiencing art whether it be contemporary or not is extremely important to my work. It helps me to process my ideas.

q) Who are some of your favourite artists/designers/photographer

a)There are so many. Rembrant, Henri Rousseau, Rebecca Horn, Thomas Eakins, Giorgio Morandi, Cecily Brown,David Schnell, Jenny Saville, George Bellows, Ensor,Artemisia Gentileschi, Neo Rauch, Elizabeth Murray,Rachel Whiteread, Lucio Fontana, Stanley Spencer,Cornelia Parker, Tintoretto, Tiepolo, Nancy Rubins,Carpaccio, Otto Dix, Ann Hamilton, Julie Heffernan,Ivan Albright, Vermeer, James Turrell, Phillip Guston,Agnes Martin, Smithson and Pipolotti Rist.

q) What is your next project?Exhibition?Collaboration?

a)Currently, I am working on a 10 year retrospective show in 08. It will be in Virginia. We have plans for it to travel and there will be a catalog with an essay that will be available early next year.

q)What are your plans for the future?

a)To continue to make my work.
q)Are there some web sites that You would like to recomend? Artists,art communities, xxx,...!?

q)What sort of music do you listen to?

a)I go through phases. Right now I am listening to a lot of Classic rock (mostly Dylan and Joplin),Bjork,Meredith Monk and Tom Waits.

q)Do you collect anything?If so what?

a)I collect trophy photographs of people with dead sharks. My favorite is an 8 ½ inch x 10 inch black and white head shot promo photo of Evel Knievel looking through a large shark's jaw directly at the camera. It was taken in 1977 for the CBS program "Evel Knievel Death Defiers". It aired on New Years Eve.

q)What do you do for fun?

a)I read, play poker, scuba dive and occasionally go to the arcade.

q)Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

a)My advice to aspiring artists is that they should always strive to make good work. I find the most important component to this process is to discover away to deeply connect with who you are.

q)Your contacts.

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