Meet Anthony Scarzafava | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anthony Scarzafava and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anthony, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
In my case, there is no choice to be made. I was born with this thing in me. The compulsion to make art is greater than any competing forces. There is a certain level of madness to keep going when you are not getting feedback, not making a living at it.. But there is a compulsion to keep doing it, to keep making art. It’s not a profession, it’s a calling. There’s no ‘give up’ – it’s make the work or die (metaphorically).

Now, there is a temptation to give up the fight to get my work in front of people. Because that’s hard, and thankless work. And I would always rather be in my studio. So, that’s something I struggle against- not to give up trying to show my work, to get it in front of people. Being a self promoter is awful, but required to make a living as an artist.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I do not come from a family of artists. I was the first in my family to go to college, and my parents thought I was nuts for going to art school. My mother wanted me to be a lawyer. Something with a suit and a desk would have made her happy.

Being a full time artist means committing to a certain kind of life – one that is often not conducive to raising a family. But I was unwilling to sacrifice having children, which meant I couldn’t be a full time artist and also be the kind of father I wanted to be. Now that I’ve raised my children, I can focus entirely on making art. It’s wonderful but it’s also challenging. From the beginning, the art was the point. To do as much as I could, to get better, to do my 10,000 hours. Because there is no point to this if the work is not progressing. Sometimes there was only time to make art, not to do the work necessary to get it into a gallery. Now I have the time to focus on making the art and selling it. And I am confronting the fact that I am not a natural self promoter. My studio is my natural habitat. I was terrified before my first show, but the response was positive, so I kept showing.

The work is an extension of who I am, and in some ways, the story of my life. I use paint and collage elements from the detritus I’ve collected over the last 50 years to tell a story, my story. So the paintings are an excavation. My entire life is buried in these paintings.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Ray Egan was my high school art teacher and first mentor. Without him, I would not have had the confidence or know how to get into Pratt Institute which was a life changing experience.

While at Pratt, I was fortunate enough to study under the last wave of modernists and abstract expressionists. I studied with some of the giants from the 50s and 60s, like Rudolf Baranik, Ernest Briggs, Donald Kuspit, Michael Malpass, Herbert Beerman, Jack Sonnenberg, and so many others.

My children (and now their children) are an ongoing inspiration and driving force for me. There was never a question that I wanted children, so I always had to have a day job in order to support them. We struggled when the kids were little. Money and time were scarce, which often meant working on small pieces with a toddler in my lap, or going without supplies so we could pay the rent. But it was important to always find some time to paint. Even in small bursts. The trick is to do something everyday, even if it’s small.

Website: anthonyscarzafava.com

Instagram: anthonyscarzafava

Twitter: @AScarzafava

Facebook: Anthony Scarzafava

Image Credits
All images used with permission of Frank Rocco Photography