Steph Rapo: January Rejuvenate Exhibition | 31/01/23
Firstly, please tell us a little about yourself and your artwork.
I’m Steph I’m located in the Berkshires MA USA. I’ve spent most of my professional career in the technology field, specifically HVAC engineering, but left that path in 2022 to focus on ventures that aligned closer with my creative passions. I discovered the NFT community around the same time and was immediately interested once I learned how deeply it brought together tech and art. I like to say I’m an interdisciplinary artist. I find so much interest in the subject itself, or my connection to it, whether it be a human subject, a landscape, or the mysteries among the cosmos. I enjoy using multiple mediums to express the feelings or messages that I want to convey. I explore photography through traditional methods like film and long exposure techniques, as well as more modern mediums like drone work and digital manipulation. Poetry and prose often accompany my artwork, whether it be intentionally published alongside it or scribbled in a notebook for no one else to see but me.
We chose the theme of rejuvenation because we like to see January as a time of rebirth rather than of the ‘January blues’. In times like this, do you ‘begin again’ with your artwork? Or do you see the new year as simply an extension of the last?
I have found a lot of joy embracing the new year as a fresh start. I always want to push the bar higher and achieve things I haven’t before. So in a sense of having a chance to begin again with a fresh planner and write new goals down knowing I will cross them off – yes I love to visualize a “blank slate where anything can happen” but I also do believe that I’m always building and nothing is a waste of time. I don’t toss years away, I build on top of them. I enjoy reflecting on seeing how far I’ve come, so in that sense I guess you could say it is definitely an extension of the last year.
Do you have any routines you like to move through in a new year?
One item that you can always find at the top of my list at the new year is to bring my attention back to reading. The holiday season is always so busy, reading is something that ends up on my back burner at the end of the year. A book can bring so many forms of inspiration; reading topics like philosophy, fiction, art and science, encourages me to explore an idea or area with a new perspective. The fresh ideas turn into fully formed goals and the goals go in the new planner!
If you had to describe your intentions for 2023 in one word, what would you choose?
Listen
Do you ever experience creative block as an artist? If so, what is your favourite way to combat it?
Oh yes and I don’t have an answer to that one. The go-to first attempts would be go into nature, read a book, try to not put pressure on myself. This is something I struggle with. I’m often disappointed with myself when I can’t tap into the creative space on-demand. Usually right when I feel like a failure as an artist is when the spark comes back. I’ll stay up for days fuelling the flame.
Has there ever been a pivotal moment in your career as an artist? What was it and what caused it? My first publication was in a national, well-known magazine. I had collected and read that magazine since I was a kid. Seeing my photos, full pages, printed on those silky magazine inky pages was a feeling I’ll never forget. That was the first day I really believed in myself. I have that magazine framed in my office now.
Lastly, if you had the chance to reincarnate as an animal, what would you choose and why?
An owl! Obviously, I would love to fly, but more, owls are so intuitive, wise, and
independent.
Above pieces:
Where is my mind?
Phases
Morning ease
