Tuc Feature: Multi-Talented Artist William Rosewood Interview

On May 18th, I had the pleasure of interviewing the multi-talented artist William Rosewood via Skype. William is currently located in the Netherlands and is studying art history. The 23-year-old and I had an engaging conversation, and he even took the time to ask me questions on why I decided to become a writer. When the interview started, William was in his studio. I could tell he was comfortable because he didn’t mine smoking a cigarette and drinking a glass of wine while chatting with me.

After introducing ourselves, I asked William what is considered a beautiful art piece. He took a minute to think about the question and then replied that no matter if a person is a musician or an artist they want to tell a story through their eyes. To William, there is no real definition of a beautiful art piece. “They’re creating something that tells their story. Everybody has their opinion about art, so it doesn’t matter what you make or what you do, seeing art and you form opinions about it,” says Rosewood.

William is deeply passionate about his craft. He’s interested in Renaissance art. The Renaissance was a period where scholars and artists began to investigate what they believed to be a revival of literature and art. This can explain why some of William’s favorite artists are from Italy. William went on to talk about some of his favorite art pieces which include his recent work “She Loves Me She Loves Me Not.” The piece is covered in 1,000 daisies.

Rosewood’s first exhibition was shown at the Macaya Gallery in Miami and was titled, Gold Rush. William named the collection “The Richness of the Nature We Destroy.” The collection included gold skulls, and right now he is working on the second part of the series. The whole concept was to tell a story of what people are doing to animals. “We’re destroying something; we’re destroying nature. The richness of nature is humanity.” William states that the story is in the title and is self-explanatory

He believes that “The Richness of the Nature We Destroy” is his most interesting collection he has done so far. However, William’s art pieces aren’t the only thing that is interesting about the collection; it’s what he decided to name his sculptures. For example, in his first exhibition, he called the sculptures Grisha, Fabunni, Wei, and Nanook. Rosewood say’s when he decides the names of a piece it’s more of a philosophy thing. He prefers to begin working on the piece and then choosing the name after an art piece is completed.

At a young age, Rosewood knew he had a deep love for art. He would draw before going to school every morning. When William turned 17, he attended Willem de Kooning Academy. Rosewood said it was a lot of pressure because he likes to do things his way when it comes to creating art. It was a lot of pressure on him to complete certain assignments on time, so he was happy when he graduated in 2015. William states that he has more freedom now that he has graduated. The 23-year-old can create whatever he pleases without any rules.

I asked William does he consider himself a new generation artist and if so, does he feel like the old generation of artist’s respects the work of the new generation? Rosewood stated that he does consider himself a new generation artist but has much respect for the legends. He believes that any artist should know their history and the people who paved the way. This is the main reason William studies two hours a day of art history and would even consider teaching an art history class.

Rosewood and I got a chance to connect on a personal level when he told me that music inspires him while creating art. William is very into hip-hop and listens to some of my personal favorites such as De La Soul and Kendrick Lamar. William likes to have music playing while he is in the art studio. Rosewood may even take a lyric from a song and make an art piece from it. He also mentions that whenever he is having a conversation with someone his eyes are always roaming around because he wants to see everything and use it for inspiration for a particular piece.

In art, there are many periods and movements. I wanted to know which movement William favored the most between futurism, cubism, abstract expressionism, or impressionism. He says along with the Renaissance he likes the impressionism movement. The Impressionism movement was a unique style of painting associated with French artists in the last third of the 19th century. Impressionism is characterized by short brush strokes of vibrant colors side by side to represent the effect of light on objects.

Even though William has his favorite movements and eras, he likes to be versatile and has many ideas at once. Rosewood says he never has a problem when it’s time to create. Ideas come naturally to him, but the greatest challenge is having many at one time while only working with two hands. Right now, he is working on three new collections. He even showed me some of his new pieces including his gold skulls.

Rosewood was excited to tell me how much he has planned for his upcoming pieces. He considers himself a workaholic. I wanted to know if he believed that to be considered a real artist, one has to be a risk-taker. From looking at William’s work, he seemed to have no limits. Rosewood replied that he wanted to do everything whether it be painting, sculpting, or drawing. However, he says that some people can stick to one aspect of art and become superb in that area. As one who take pride in his work, Rosewood doesn’t dismiss critique. “People will critique your work, and they may say it’s beautiful or ugly but don’t let that alter the way you perceive art.” Williams’s personality and artwork are larger than life. He is truly a free spirit that loves what he does. Rosewood knew his history and continued to use the skills he learned at Willem de Kooning Academy to create beautiful masterpieces.