When Paper Comes to Life
There is something undeniably alive about Los-Angeles-based artist, Morgan Rosskopf’s intricate “works on paper”. Perhaps it’s the tender depictions of blooming flowers and bodies glowing with warmth, or the interconnected ribbons of paper practically swelling beyond the composition inhaling our gaze and exhaling color and pattern. Maybe it’s the fact that each work becomes electric with energy under a black-light, morphing and becoming awake in the night like anything else alive and restless. While it’s more likely a combination of all three, we invite you to come to your own conclusions as you view this edition of The Next Generation. Be sure to support our artist of the week by taking a trip to Rosskopf’s social media and website (located at the end of the page) once finished reading!
Part One: Who is Morgan Rosskopf?
Question #1: Who are you?
| “My name is Morgan Rosskopf and I am a mixed media/works on paper artist, as well as a floral designer, living in Los Angeles. Born and raised in California, I have lived up and down the west coast my whole life and feel that my work embodies many traits of “west coastness”. I am obsessed with flowers and plants, pattern, and color. I have been identified by others as an artist that also happens to be a witch, and I am still learning what that means to me. I am on a life long spiritual quest for deeper understanding and freedom, and feel that art is simultaneously my greatest tool and strongest voice to obtain and relay my findings.” |
Question #2: Who are you as an Artist?
“I have been an artist for as long as I can remember and, for better or for worse, I plan to be one for my entire life. My art is driven by my unending urge to express myself, insatiable curiosity, and love of drawing. Art gives me the time and place to meditate on ideas and distill my experiences into something visual and relatable. My work examines love and its many opposites through the language of still lives, light and color, maximalism, punk rock ethos, and a very Romantic interpretation of the word freedom. There is no divide between art and life; I want to continue to push myself into places that feel wild, free, electric, and unapologetic.”
Question #3:
What has led you to this point in your life?
“I have arrived at this point in my life because I have worked hard for it. I have also arrived here because it is the only path I have known to make any sense, and in that regard it feels like fate. I believe in working hard and being kind and I hope that any successes I may have are earned through those two modalities. I have faced normal creative hardship such as job instability, low income, and creative block, but art has always been both the medicine and the goal to carry me through those times.”
“My urge to create is fueled by the pleasure in making. I am motivated by music, dance, and philosophy. I am also wildly addicted to the feeling of flow state, the psychological state of being immersed, energized, and focused on an activity. I enjoy making large bodies of work in effort to explain all facets of one idea; each drawing acting as a key player to contextualize itself amongst the others. I am also deeply motivated to see my technical skills and execution of ideas grow and develop from one drawing to the next.”
Question #4:
What motivates you to create?
Part Two: “Nite Voice”
What is your artistic process?
“My work and practice can be tricky to categorize because the only medium I have any loyalty to is paper! I find myself settling with “works on paper” because it is truthful, but very vague. My work is colorful, loaded with texture and imagery, and composed with a collage-based methodology. It can often walk the line between image and object because the paper is heavily cut, transformed, and floated on the wall in presentation. I believe that the truth of my images lie in the nuance and details, so I overwhelm my work with information hoping for revelation in chaos. Formal and conceptual juxtaposition is my most used method of creating as it not only lets me explore binaries, but also the ever fruitful grey area in between. By the end of a drawing I want to arrive at something unpredicted and never seen, though composed entirely in my familiar language of signs and symbols.”
The following artworks are portions of a growing body of works titled “Nite Voice.” Each piece is black light reactive and therefore has two modes of viewing. To view each work in its alternate condition, visit the artist’s social media and website located at the bottom of the page.
30 x 44″
mixed media and collage on hand cut paper
2020
22 x 30″
mixed media and collage on hand cut baby blue paper
2019
30 x 44″
mixed media and collage on hand cut paper
2019
30 x 22″
mixed media and collage on hand cut paper
2020
Where/ how can Vacant Museum viewers see more of your work and where can they purchase it?
Viewers can see my work on my instagram profile (@morgan_rosskopf) and my website (morganrosskopf.com) They can also see my work this coming October at Seattle’s newest museum, Museum of Museums, in the show “Goodwitch/Badwitch”. I will also have work in a group show dedicated to drawing at La Loma Projects, located in Pasadena, CA.