*Sabrina Montella holding her piece 'Purse Dump'.*

Tell me about yourself. How have you turned your passion for art into a career? What initially sparked your interest in becoming an artist?

My name is Sabrina Montella. I am an oil painter located on the North Fork of Long Island, NY. Growing up, I had always loved creating all kinds of art, and I quickly realized that I had a gift for it as well. I did not go to school to study art — I actually talked myself out of doing so — but it didn’t take much time after I graduated for me to re-evaluate what I saw myself finding joy in pursuing in life. Pursuing art as a career was always a part of the vision I had for my life, but due to fear and doubt it was something that felt to be more of a fantasy or a “one day” dream. So eventually after returning home from school, I reached a point where my desire to at least give art a try outweighed my fears.

So in January of 2023, I made my first ‘object’ painting, “Purse Dump,” and posted it soon after on social media. The response I got was so large and overwhelming that it really helped grow my confidence and pushed me to keep going. I quickly had to learn everything that went along with starting a business selling my artwork, from how to build a website and file sales taxes, to how to photograph fine art and create fine art prints. It has been both the greatest challenge and blessing of my life to be able to share and sell my artwork to people all around the world.

How did your 'objects series' come about? What is the significance of the objects in these paintings?

The ‘object series’ came to life at the same time I was searching for my identity after college. I had been circling my mind every day to find and figure out who I was and who I wanted to be. Maybe so much so that when I just decided to take a look at my material world, I found that the items I collected and carried defined who I was in a way. It was like a faceless self portrait. The items were all symbols of my style, personality and life. From there, my fascination with creating these little ‘object portraits,’ or stories of people and different time periods really blossomed.

I source and collect all of the items in my paintings, and each object is something I feel some sort of connection to. It could be something I’ve held onto from childhood, or the belongings of a total stranger that I am drawn to and connect with. By selectively combining certain objects and relying on their symbolic and universally understood meanings, I can generate a storyline about someone or something.

Overall, the stories I create with the objects are all really just parts of myself. They all connect to my personality, emotions or beliefs about life, so when put together, I am able to see a piece of myself projected into each painting. I think this also comes full circle because if I can see this part of myself in my work, its more than likely that another person can connect to the painting and see a similar part of themselves in it as well.

What is your main source of inspiration? Where do you feel most inspired?

My main source of inspiration has to be the old photographs I collect. Every Friday and Saturday morning, I wake up early to grab a good spot in line at estate and tag sales near me. I have found some of the most wonderful objects and ephemera at these sales, but finding a collection of old photographs from a strangers life is what I look for the most. Although it is a bit bittersweet as these photos are usually ones not taken by family and left from someone who passed, I feel so inspired by them.

I find that the way we documented life before our current digital age was so beautiful. These photographs I’ve found document such precious moments of life, family and friendship. The traditions and decorum that we upheld in the past have seemed to dissipate in our modern age. Text messages are sent in seconds, items are delivered to us the very next day with a few simple taps, and all of these things we buy are mass-produced and made to be so plain and minimal. Although technology has made things easier and faster for us, it has also taken away a lot of what makes life so complex and wonderful. I believe there was so much beauty in the action of sitting to write out a letter, or to hand craft an item to not just serve one simple purpose, but also to be ornate, unique and visually beautiful. The photographs I find from this time are a testament to this.

Thinking about your piece, 'Purse Dump', What was your creative process from start to finish? How did you establish the composition?

For my painting, “Purse Dump” I first started by literally dumping everything out of my purse. I saw that everything I carried all matched in colour and made sense together. I had the idea of painting one object from above for a while, so I knew that I wanted all of these objects to be viewed from that perspective.

From here, I just started playing around with the layout of the objects from this perspective, noticing that larger objects, such as the headphones, made more sense visually when placed at the top or edges of the layout. I then focused on the smaller items, seeing that I could create an interesting flow of these little objects when laid out diagonally across. I also somewhat categorised the objects based on their use and purpose. So I placed the pen, paintbrush and paperclip near each other, the perfume with the gloves and bow hairpins, and the gloves near the golf balls. The composition actually came together pretty quickly from here, with a few alterations to help create a seamless visual movement through the composition when viewed. I still have all of these process photos and it is interesting to look back because it is clear to me now why I chose composition I did, everything kind of merges in the center, with the objects shrinking in size from all of the edges, leading your eyes to the center.

Why are you interested in capturing “feelings of nostalgia and sentiment” in your work?

I feel that although we can’t go back to how life may have been in the past, we can still look back and feel hope. When I can look at a photograph and just feel wonder and awe and the beauty of that moment it was taken, I become inspired to bring that feeling into my life. By creating stories of people or a time in the past, I hope to remind people that we have the ability to live our lives this way.

We don’t have to conform to an age of simplicity. My ambition is to create art that both makes us feel sentimental and hopeful, so that someone may take this hope and let it inspire them to create a full and beautiful life for themselves. To take more time to care for our friendships, family and ourselves. Host a dinner party or write a letter to a loved one. Take more candid photos to simply remember that moment, not to advertise your life online. Purchase an item that was crafted with care and attention, not because it was the first search result on Amazon. Start collecting things that speak to your soul, rather than to serve as a symbol of status.

What does a typical day look like for you in the studio?

On typical studio day, I like to start working early, so I try to get started painting around 8am. I feel like it takes a good hour for me to get into a flow and really start making progress. If I have any print orders to ship out or content to create and post online, I usually do this around lunchtime to take a mid-day break from painting. From there, I really just keep painting until dinnertime. I have a hard time giving my mind a rest from thinking about my work, so leaving the studio before dark has become key for me to prevent burnout.

My work is very slow-paced, as there’s so much detail, layering of paint, and waiting for drying times. I like it this way. I feel that each painting becomes a sort of bubble I can live in for the weeks or months it takes me to complete. I like to listen to music or passively watch a tv series while working a lot to help me zone out and focus. While painting “Lady Eventide,” I watched the entire series of Gilmore Girls. Now when I look at certain parts of it, I can actually recall what was happening in the show while I painted it.

If you could spend a day with any artist; dead or alive, who would it be, and why?

Norman Rockwell or Will Rochfort! Their style is actually very similar, they both are incredible storytellers, constructing wonderful narratives into each painting that draw you into a particular moment in time. I would love to see their process in real time and talk to them about their work. My style is different from theirs, but I try to tell a story of a moment in time as well, so that is what really interests me with their paintings.

What has been your greatest achievement so far as an artist? Have you endured any challenges?

My greatest achievement thus far has been creating my painting “Lady Eventide.” This painting was also shortlisted for Jackson’s Art Prize which was a huge accomplishment for me and such an honour. This painting in particular was unlike any other painting I had done because of the lace background I chose to include in the piece.

When I was creating the layout and choosing which objects to include, I really felt like the lace was necessary for the composition. I chose to include a lot of metal objects in this piece, like a metal chain purse, a tiny spoon and scissors, and a bronze compass, but I wanted the metal to feel more dainty rather than super dense and harsh. I really felt that the lace contrasted the metals, while also emphasising the delicacy of these objects, making everything feel very intricate and fragile, and as if it was all found washed ashore.

I was doubtful about painting the lace at first, but once it was time, I quickly found my method and groove for it. Surprisingly, it was also quite enjoyable and therapeutic. So more lace might just be painted in my future works!

What are your future aspirations as an artist?

I hope to continue working to build my art business to be a more stable full-time career. That is my ultimate dream. I think it definitely takes time to build a stable audience and market of consumers online, so my hope is to continue to build up my online platforms and reach out to my local community to find these people that connect with my work and the messages behind them.

Other than this, I would love to find a gallery that could have me for a solo exhibition of my work. It would be so amazing and such a huge accomplishment to show a collection of my works all together in one room for people to come by and see in person.

Why do you think art is important in society?

I think art is very important today because it is an act of creation. And it’s not just limited to fine arts either. I believe that you can really call so many human activities a form of art. Creation is what makes us human. It is what we all really strive to do in life.

I find that when I am not busy creating, I fall easily into bad habits or patterns like over consuming social media and endlessly scrolling, or becoming lazy with taking time to carry out daily actions with care and intention. Creation is what helps keep a forward momentum in our life. More specifically, art is what allows us to play around in the world. It keeps us curious: we become inventors of concepts, ideas or things. It gives us hope: we focus more on what inspires us, and we create more of what we want to see in the world.

Sabrina Montella

ARTIST INTERVIEW: Sabrina Montella