Meet Terina Sciarrotta | Artist & Mother

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

Hi Terina, as a parent, what do you feel is the most meaningful thing you’ve done for them?
When I first moved to Brooklyn, I was afraid to be an Artist. I was surrounded by an art scene that was more contemporary and free-flowing than what I had been surrounded by throughout my life. The art I saw played by a different set of rules and I didn’t get it. I was afraid to create something real, even alone in a closet turned studio. I dove into making a career out of other interests and became a fairly successful personal trainer. But when I got pregnant I no longer cared about my body composition, my one-rep max, or anything like that. I got pregnant just before the Covid-19 Pandemic hit so I was suddenly confronted by the biggest personal transition of my life and this unprecedented lockdown all at once. I began painting again! It felt so good. The smell of the paint and the sound of my palette knife on my glass palette triggered memories and ideas and feelings that I hadn’t recalled in years. I painted throughout my pregnancy and took a 6-month break after giving birth. I went back to personal training for a week and it felt so foreign and forced and I knew it wasn’t a worthy trade for time with my infant son. Luckily I was able to choose to stay home with him, and once my son’s nap routine began to regulate, I started painting again. I joked that he was the biggest obstacle between me and my time in the studio. But I also know that without him, I never would have stayed home and restarted my creative practice. I would be right back in the gym teaching folks with office jobs what types of stretches to do during a long day at the desk. In a way he gave me my creative practice and on the flip side, I hope I give him a look at an alternate way of living. A different way to make money and live a life. It’s scary and full of risk, but a life full of creativity is fulfilling and worthy of such risk. Him seeing that I make time for myself in my studio, seeing my work scattered throughout our apartment, images of him, of me, of his dad, of our home; these are things that will stick with him and hopefully empower him to choose a fulfilling path and to support a fulfilling path for whatever future partner he finds.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My work focuses on identity. I work in oil paint and almost always use figures to carry the narrative of a piece. I often work in self-portraits as my pieces always feel reflective. At the risk of seeming self-indulgent with a studio filled with faces and figures that are my own, I make these paintings as a way to evaluate my own cultural identity as someone who grew up in the Mormon church and is now trying to reconnect with my Māori identity, embrace my mauri, my life force or energy that allows me to express my cultural identity. When I don’t paint in self-portraits I usually explore my relationship with my son, my partner, my home, my neighborhood. Bringing “Mommy Art” into serious art spaces is important to me! We don’t have to discount the work and interests of Mothers just because the prefix “mommy” takes away all types of value from the noun that follows! The work of Mothers is so important, and it’s amazing what a supported Mom can accomplish!

The biggest challenge that I faced was my son’s struggle with behavior and delays in language. Accepting his Autism Spectrum Diagnosis was tough but probably the easiest part of the journey. Navigating our system to get him the support he needed was a huge challenge. But getting him his services and support has made us as a family of artists feel more empowered to keep creating. The emotions that came with this time were a huge challenge and a big block for my creativity, but we were supported and I returned to the studio with more emotional fuel for my work.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My favorite spots to hit are not quite the instagrammable experiences that my visitors look for! But when they’re done visiting the Empire State Building and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, they always love when I take them to the best pizza in NYC, L&B Spumoni Gardens in South Brooklyn. I also love taking them for a stroll in Prospect Park, a bike ride down Ocean Parkway, some Gelato from Sweet Lea on Coney Island Ave and Cortelyou Rd, and to Shashlik Houe on McDonald Ave and Cortelyou Rd for some Uzbeki Kebabs!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I was so afraid to make my paintings and share them with others until I shared that fear with my husband and he did everything he could to support me emotionally as I jumped back into my creative practice after a yearslong break from it. In the past few years, I’ve had a few cheerleaders like friends and neighbors. A particular friend, Jessica Planter Birzin supported me as a mother and as a painter because she was both of those things as well! We babysat for each other while the other painted, cheered each other on, critiqued each other’s work, and did Brooklyn’s biggest art walk, Artmageddon together. I couldn’t have done any of this without her friendship and support. Speaking of Artmageddon, I was able to grow my audience and sell some work because of this event put on by the organization, Beautify Brooklyn. I also read many books (and every mom out there knows that when we say “read” we mean “listened to an audiobook!”) since restarting my creative practice and 2, in particular, stand out as leaving a big impact on me; “I’ll Show Myself Out” by Jessi Klein made me feel seen and validated in my experience as a mother, and “Baby on the Fire Escape” by Julie Cameron also made me feel heard. “Baby on the Fire Escape” especially helped me to feel human and in good company as Cameron lays out the struggles and triumphs throughout the lives of successful artists/writers and mothers. It’s a somewhat niche intersection as artists are often discouraged from becoming mothers and vice versa, so to find this book brimming with relatable scenarios and sentiments was a game-changer for me!

Website: https://terinascia.com

Instagram: @terinasart

Other: email: terinascia@gmail.com