1. Briefly describe the work you do.My work centers around fragility, repair, andslowness. After suffering a severe spinal injuryyears ago, I used my recuperation and healing asthe blueprint for my art practice. I developed myartistic process over a handful of years learningfrom experimentation, trial, and failure. In my artI take very fine, translucent, hand woven Margilansilk from Uzbekistan, hand-dye it, and thendistress the silk creating holes and tears to bemended later. I then arrange the silk like a painterwould control a single brushstroke composing anundulating landscape of fine threads. The silk isthen transferred to a canvas where the rips andtears in the silk are ready to be mended via handembroidery. Decorative patterns are designedand transferred to the canvas and metallic threadis used to stitch these patterns in the damagedareas making the fissures whole again whilecelebrating the history of repair rather thanhiding it.2. What or who inspires your work andhow has that influenced both your workand your identity as an artist?I am inspired by makers, craftspeople, andartisans who preserve cultural artistic traditions,as well as those that push the same traditionsforward. Artists that devote their time to aprocess that is challenging, or labor intensive, butconnects them to the past, while also becomingconduits of knowledge for others going forwardare always the most inspiring artists I meet.3. Making Art traditionally carry cultural,historical, or personal narratives. Howdo you incorporate these narratives inyour contemporary pieces?With an art practice that involves weaving,mending, embroidery, and decoration, myartwork lies adjacent to many textile traditionsaround the world, and I want to acknowledgethem, I am proud be part of that lineage. Partof the reason I use abstraction and my owndecorative patterns for embroidery rather thanmore specific pictorial elements is because Idon’t want to be seen appropriating from anotherculture, while also assuring I leave the finalinterpretation of my artworks open for the viewer.4. Do you aim for a particularemotional or sensory experience inaudience interaction with your pieces,considering that textiles or mixedmedia artworks can evoke a tactileresponse?I don’t aim for one emotional experiencespecifically, but there is a similarity in howviewers recognize the empathy that is centralto my art. For all the beauty I try to embed in mywork the main inspiration is how to accept andnavigate trauma. You only try to repair that whichis personally valuable to you because mendingsomething takes much more time and effortthan just replacing it, and there is no assuranceof success. When I talk about my process withothers and share my personal history, trauma,and the physical and emotional healing I wentthrough, I will commonly see someone go abit quiet and look again, intently, sometimeswith a slight nod or a flash of realization. Thoseviewers invariably find a moment to talk to meprivately and they share their own obstaclesand challenges in life that they overcame andhow they did it. Those are the most meaningfulexchanges to me.5. Given that textiles and mixed mediaoften generate residuals, how do youspecifically approach sustainability andwork to minimize environmental impactin your artistic practice?Since I developed my own artistic practices, Ihave greater control over the various elements Iuse. I can size the amount of silk needed for eachpiece, control the amount of dye to the exactweight, as well as knowing necessary embroiderythread required leaving almost no waste duringthe creative process.6. Get inspired!INSTAGRAM: @scott.andresenWEBSITE: scott-andresen.comREPRESENTED BY: Octavia Art Gallery“Art is about seeing andfeeling the world from aunique viewpoint, thentaking that unknown andmaking it known.”– Scott Andresen42 INTHEARTS | WINTER 2024
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