Britt Bogan
Where were you raised? Has the landscape of that place influenced your work in any way?
I was born and raised in New Jersey. I was never prideful of that fact. New Jersey gets a really bad rap for some good reasons, but it did offer something special to my family. I grew up in a close knit Italian American family, like many of those in New Jersey. Many immigrant families like mine came from Southern Italy and Sicily through Ellis Island to New York and eventually pushed out to New Jersey. Both my father’s side and my mother’s side have family who immigrated from Sicily, Naples & Calabria. My bonus mother is from Sicily. Truthfully, I always felt like the black sheep because I wanted more while my family is very content with their small circle and I have been embarrassed with how the Italian American culture has been portrayed in media. Ultimately, I am a descendant of hardworking people who have always valued family over everything and while American culture encourages individuality, they’ve remained tight. That’s not to say that it is without dysfunction, just that the dysfunction is accepted and maybe even encouraged throughout dinner. So recently I am exploring more of my own ancestral history, some of which influenced paintings in my upcoming show titled Roman Holiday. Since we are seven months into a global pandemic, I took it upon myself to escape to another place and another time in my mind through canvas.
How do you re-charge your creative battery?
A full day of rest in bed is a nice reset, but if I could choose I would take a few weeks somewhere by the mediterranean sea. Sicily is my favorite place on earth. I would love to recharge there right now.
What book are you reading?
I just began My Soul Looks Back by Jessica B. Harris which was recommended by my good friend, Mishel Prada. We have a plan to make a small cookbook together, but I think we may just continue sharing recipes and inspiring works from different eras and leaving food at each other’s doorsteps until this pandemic is over. We even dreamed of living remotely in a large house where other artists and friends could come to create in the day and eat together each night. It’s easy to dream but I would love this to come true. Maybe we are craving closeness in a time of isolation but as long as I am eating Mishel’s food alongside my family and painting, I am happy. I would not mind if it took my entire lifetime to finish the cookbook project.
What was the last thing that you fell in love with?
Santa Maria Novella Carta D’ Armenia burning papers. It was a special gift from a friend for my birthday. The scent is of frankincense and myrrh. They have been around since the 16th century and haven’t changed at all since. There are not many papers in the tiny box so I use them very sparingly and it is always a nice treat to myself when I do.
What do you love most about yourself?
I will have to say being introverted has advantages during this isolating time. These last seven months has come with so much sadness and anxiety about the future, but I feel a calmness in the city that has been a nice shift. It has been good to slow down collectively but wish it didn’t come with the consequences of a pandemic.
What do you think is the most important quality in a human?
Empathy seems like the most obvious to me with a fascist sociopath leading our country. That said, being an empath can be debilitating. If only those with too much can share with those lacking.
Do you have a spiritual practice?
I come from a Roman Catholic background but do not consider myself religious. I try to meditate but it is never consistent. I guess my art practice feels like a spiritual practice to me. Not sure if that counts, but I can sit in silence and completely lose myself for hours drawing or painting and I cannot do that with anything else in my life. The practice of art has been the greatest gift to me and anytime I take a break from it, I feel off.
Who are your role models?
All the mamas. My mother. Your mother. Stay at home mamas. Working mamas. Artist mothers. All the mothers. I know that sounds cliche and I wish to answer with something more unique but I have a new perspective and appreciation since becoming one myself. It truly is the most undervalued and unsupported job in our society but yet we are responsible for raising the future generations. There is so much pressure and it is without a doubt the hardest thing I have and will ever do. We are all flawed humans and despite being faced with our shortcomings daily, we continue to wake up and do it again and again.
If you could change one thing about our world, what would it be? Is there a individual or an organization doing work in this area that you want us to know about?
Wow, this is hard to answer because I would love to change so much about this world but first I would want to release the people in cages. Immigrant Families Together @immfamtogether is a great non profit working to get people out of detention and getting families back together by paying bonds and giving them legal representation. immigrantfamiliestogether.com
Before I die I want to…
see the police defunded and disarmed.
SNEAK PEEK of NEW WORK from Britt’s upcoming show ROMAN HOLIDAY!!! All photos courtesy of Britt Bogan <3
