Meet Stephanie Sherwood: Artist & Curator

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

Hi Stephanie, why did you pursue a creative career?
I don’t feel as though I ever had a choice to be honest! I’ve wanted an artistic career since I was very young. I love to draw and once I started learning about art history I wanted to be a part of that conversation. The more I learned about it the more I was driven to be in the arts.    

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

Falling out of the academic world into the Los Angeles scene has been a journey for sure! It’s very easy to get side tracked and lose the drive when you don’t have anyone pushing you to do so. Somehow my path kept me involved in art. The other creatives I’ve met along the way kept that fire burning, particularly when I got back into independent curating. I loved curating in non traditional spaces, bringing artists from many different spaces together. The conversations and dialogue between practices was so rich and rewarding! The energy spent and earned working with others on curatorial projects has certainly informed my personal art practive. I have always been adamant about following the work wherever it took me, regardless of the market. While that is demanding in terms of finding time on the outskirts of my schedule, I dont think it’s something I can sacrifice. My Confine In Situ series has been the biggest revelation from the past year. The series is comprised of paintings on the surface of discarded furniture on the streets of Los Angeles. Each piece is created in the site where the furniture is found, documented, and left for its ultimate delivery to the landfill. Each item carries with it the history of its use, and the immediacy of its dumping is heightened by the immediacy of the painting. I’m still wrestling with this body of work conceptually, and I’ve been working through a series of pieces in my studio that is connected to it as well. I call that work the Snapshot Series.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I do love Los Angeles! My city outings are always built around art, so I would build an itinerary around each neighborhood. DTLA has a wonderful hub of galleries around Hauser and Wirth which also has The Pie Hole for good eats and Hennessey + Ingalls bookstore. Culver City has a ton of galleries along La Cienega as well as Samosa House East, my favorite spot for Indian Food! Chinatown is another great neighborhood to visit with some great galleries and fantastic food. We are also spoiled with fantastic street art in all of these neighborhoods, ever changing and always impressive.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Working towards my degree at CSU Long Beach really was the basis of what my practice is today, I owe a lot to my peers and professors there. More recently I’m thankful for the artist collectives I’ve become a part of in Los Angeles: www.acceptableriskla.com www.somewhereinla.com www.shelovescollective.com @acceptableriskla @silasomewhereinla @shelovescollective

Website: www.stephaniesherwoodart.com
Instagram: @stephanie_sherwood_art
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephaniesherwoodart

Image Credits
Portrait of artist with artwork: Jesus Martinez-Rizo
Photos of individual works on paper: Justin William Galligher