Amelia Foster
Amelia was born and raised in Oregon, where the Willamette River was once so toxic that fish would jump out of it to escape and where people living along the coastline would have to scan the sky for the timber industry’s pesticide-spraying helicopters to know if their water was safe to drink that day. Before pursuing art, Amelia worked and studied as an environmental microbiologist at Oregon State University, investigating coral reef degradation. Amelia has shown her work across the United States and given talks and workshops at New York University and the Association for Conflict Resolution, amongst others. Amelia currently lives and works in New York City.
PP: Where are you currently living/ working and what are you working on?
AF: I am currently living in NYC. Over the past few years I have been building out a mythological and folkloric world that depicts my emotional landscape and response to environmental policies in the state of Oregon, which is where I am from. I am always working on a few aspects of my practice simultaneously. Currently, I am creating medium sized works based in the mythological world I'm creating, building out lore and stories, mapping an 8ftx3ft paper tapestry of this world and am in the baby steps of creating an installation. The installation is in collaboration with phD candidate Bailey Murphy at the University of Madison Wisconsin and will depict an artistic rendition of what our climate futures could look like.
PP: What are ways you support other artists?
AF: I have previously held monthly online group critiques to help artists connect and receive critical feedback on their work. At this time, I am mainly sharing opportunities and serving as a connector to help other artists build their networks.
watercolor on paper, 9 x 12”
PP: What do you do to overcome creative blocks?
AF: I take a break. While it can sometimes seem counter-intuitive and frustrating, especially when I've been making minimal headway, stepping away from my work and re-centering myself ultimately is the fastest way for me to move past creative blocks.
watercolor on paper, 9 x 12”
PP: How did you develop your visual language?
AF: Repeated practice, failures, and finding gems within those failures repeated over the course of years. Learning from other artists' successes, and more importantly their mistakes.
Hellscape Series