Aurora Abzug
Aurora Abzug received her BA in Studio Art from Bard College and additional training in academic painting from The Ridgewood Art Institute. She has exhibited at such venues as The Salmagundi Club, New York, NY; San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA; New York Academy of Art, New York, NY; and Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, IL, among many others. Her work resides in the permanent collection of Lore Degenstein Gallery at Susquehanna University. She has received mentions in the press by Artnet and Artsy. Her past residencies and awards include the AXA Art Prize (finalist), Nes Artist Residency, Skagaströnd, Iceland, and The Sable Project, Stockbridge, VT.
Collect Bean: What is the kindest thing someone can tell you about your work?
Aurora Abzug: I love when people tell me my work makes them feel cozy or safe. I do a lot of emotional processing and reflection on my place in my larger cultural setting in my work, and I feel successful when my paintings speak to people working through similar questions and looking for comfort.
Collect Bean: How do you think your work has evolved?
Aurora Abzug: Five years ago, I was very focused on diaristic documentation. As I’ve grown and evolved in my practice, I’ve become interested in the melding of dreams and digital culture into daily life, and increasingly, I try to lean into these more spacious visual realms.
Collect Bean: Are there any recurring themes or motifs in your art, and if so, what do they represent to you?
Aurora Abzug: Cake, beer, and stuffed animals often recur in my work and have very particular symbolic associations. The cake imagery responds to the digital trend cycle and how I use mass iconography from Instagram and Tumblr to express my personal tastes and experiences. Beer signals the struggle between taking care of my needs as an individual and overindulgence. And the stuffed animals are direct metaphors for my relationships with friends, family, and partners.
Collect Bean: How do you balance your practice with your daily life?
Aurora Abzug: It’s challenging balancing art with my day job and home life. I recently relocated back home to pursue my art career in New York City, start a new job in art logistics, and spend time with my family as they age. While it’s been challenging adjusting to a new full-time job and sharing my space with my parents and Grandma again, I’m finding it very supportive and rewarding to engage in mutual care with my family, experience the epicenter of the art world after several years of living in smaller cities, and have my time very neatly split between my artistic practice and my day job. Having less time to make art makes me use the time I have more preciously and productively.
Collect Bean: How do you see your artwork fitting into the larger art world or art history?
Aurora Abzug: More-so than contributing to art history at large, I see my work as falling in with the cultural milieu of young women making diaristic content of all forms during the first era in which social media has removed a lot of gatekeepers and centered young creatives. While I’m deeply skeptical of social media and consumer capitalism (and I hope that makes it through in my work), I think of myself as part of a school of artists whose work responds directly to the pressures and portals created by digitalization and conspicuous consumption.
