Being a SCAD alumna has a plethora of benefits, especially when you note how much impact a degree from SCAD has on your career path. One of the most notable aspects to understand is how the school provides the resources and tools for its students and alumni to being to have continued success after the graduation stage. One very amazing young woman, Stephanie Forbes, is currently on her way to unveiling her masterpiece collaboration with SCAD. Fortunately, I was able to reach out to her on her current and future projects, along with a closer look into who she really is.
Who is Stephanie and what kind of impact is she making?
I am a multidisciplinary artist consistently attempting to investigate and explore generational trauma, childhood trauma, and what roles those things play in character developments, lingering into adulthood by a myriad of mediums and conceptual art-making.
What inspired you to start your journey in the arts and what does your career choice say about you?
I have thirsted to create since I understood how my hands worked. The day I picked up a pencil I knew I was supposed to make every mark I made into something important and considerate. My parents are both artists, so I guess you could say it’s in my blood, too. I think this kind of career choice is one not chosen lightly, so I would say it defines me by the fact that I am hard working and dedicated. And endow sifting through my pains and tribulations in order to create something worth sparking conversations, or aiding in one’s process of being alive. Art is just that important. Sometimes people think being an artist is fun and easy, and while art-making has many generous moments of joy, I think, all in all, it is one of the hardest paths a person can choose to go down. Societal judgment alone, but also the constant self reflect and deprivation that can come along with such a prestigious and important torch to carry.
What would you say is your strongest work so far/ what was it like to create it?
I would like to say that my strongest work is definitely yet to come. But I feel most authentic and fulfilled by my current body of work that is specifically analyzing my own experiences with family suppression and being rooted, generationally, in the Lowcountry. There are a lot of mysterious moments in the South that I have found oddly parallel to this idea that sometimes we have to keep things hush in order to be perceived a certain way. I have lived in California and spent much time traveling and can say with confidence, there’s nothing like it anywhere else I have been. It is both beautiful, considerate and pleasant, fragile, soft and euphoric as well as horrible, painful, destructive, and dark. Regardless of it all, I adore living in this place and find that a lot of tokens that make up this area, like oysters, Spanish moss, Camellia trees, the sounds of cicadas on summer nights, can be utilized in my work to translate these things.
Do you credit anyone as an inspiration for your work?
I credit everyone who has ever and will ever make art. A friend of mine, Maggie Hayes, once referenced “the artist collective” as this space where everything has been done and thought about already. I really loved that because I have never really thought of my work as my own but rather a Divine utilizing my vessel to translate important things in this life. And I say that in the most humble of ways. I feel very honored to be an artist. But I do feel we are consciously and subconsciously constantly feeding off of each other and sharing ideas not yet spoken of together.
If your friends/ close family could describe you, what type of person would they say you are?
Genuinely, I would say passionate. Self-deprecatingly caring. Maybe hella analytical. I mean, I can’t go on a run without crying because I get so full of emotion just observing everything around me and then coming back into my body that is preciously carrying mine through a run. That’s kind of how I go into every experience, with this widely observant presence. I know it can get old but I really love that about myself.
What project(s) are you currently working on/ what can people look forward to experiencing?
I am currently working on my body of work called “ROOT” about generational reconciliation and family suppression/trauma. That will be on exhibition at the Cedar House Gallery in Savannah, GA on April 2, 2021. The showcase will be composed of a multitude of works including installations, paintings, video pieces and sculptures. I am really looking forward to it and feel thankful for the opportunity to translate these concepts in these ways. The work I am doing for this is currently being done at Forsyth House, a studio supplied to me by SCAD under the Atelier Associate program. As an alumna, (and student, actually) the Atelier program is something I have chased after for a very long time. Ever since I knew what it was, I wanted to be apart of it. This concept was thought of by our President Paula Wallace to give alumni the opportunity, time, and space needed to create and refine art practices. The opportunity has been nothing short of incredible and vital to me as an artist. My next step is to apply for the Ambassadorship, in hopes of creating the concepts for my next body of work, “Infestations.”
How do you feel being a SCAD alumna plays into your role as an artist?
How much time do you have? In all seriousness, it is a title I wear with relentless pride and excitement. Being a SCAD grad was on my to-do list since I was a kid. My parents met and fell in love here, on the steps of Poetter Hall. Nothing I have ever done or accomplished has felt more personal. I really can’t explain it. SCAD really gives you every tool you could possibly need to make something of yourself as a creator. I say that with full confidence. It’s not easy and it is, ultimately, only up to you to actually do the work you need to do in order to “make it,” but SCAD graciously supplies every tool one could hope for in achieving their goals. As a fine art major, I really believe that and reflect upon all that I learned here, to go into the art world, almost every day.
What would you leave as inspiration to SCAD students that may be pursuing the same path as you?
Just don’t stop. It is so easy to give up, I have wanted to so many times. But you have to be relentless. Be persistent, be commanding, and step into your power. Only you can do those things for yourself — but the tools are right in front of you. Use them. And thirst for opportunities. Seek them, manifest them, create them, be them. Art is vital and there is a reason we are here creating work, it is because it is absolutely necessary, and do not let anyone tell you any differently. Just keep telling yourself — “My work is vital.”
To see more of Stephanie’s work or to get updates on her process, you may visit her Instagram or her website.
