Amanda S. Rose has always been making something. Born October 24,1988 in Augusta, Maine, Rose’s childhood played out against a backdrop of early English and American folk music, antiques, bread-making, and high-demand religion. Throughout her teen years, she learned to alter and sew her own clothes. She graduated with a B.S. in public relations with a minor in graphic design in 2011 from Southern Adventist University. She now lives in Arizona and is currently an Intermedia MFA candidate at The University of Maine. Rose’s most recent work focuses on issues of class, community, and focused intent through site-specific installations meant to spark community interaction and self-reflection.

Artist Statement

I am interested in the intersection of art and craft  involving what has historically been referred to as “women’s work” and where this type of work is combined with focused intent as demonstrated through low or left-hand-path magical practice. These, though they have been historically the practices of the disenfranchised and those who feel powerless, are the work of great change. It is the making the world out of “little.” My ultimate goal in my art is to provide a resonant space for those who have felt powerless in the past as I have and encouragement that they can make a change in their situation and in that of their neighbors. 

I’m a great modality dabbler, but video elements feature strongly in most of my work. I often incorporate antique or secondhand objects and materials into video, performance, and assemblage-style pieces that sometimes go on to have a life of their own. More and more, community-based work — integration, engagement, aid — feels important for me to engage in as an artist and a good neighbor. Moving outside of myself to connect with others has brought a revitalizing energy to my practice and there is a lot of pleasure in making space for analog human connection in a digital world with my art. With continued iterations of my current projects, I am finding the sweet spot for me between creating art autonomously and full curatorship of the community’s art. I’m also learning the importance of location in the type of community-centered art I create and the socio-economic terrain of my community in particular. I hope that my work can act as a blueprint for others.

Folk art, spirituality, and craft have been an influential element in forming my artistic identity from an early age. My graphic design training plays a big part in my art. I’m inspired by the bold colors and incorporation of language as seen in the work of Barbara Kruger and John Baldessari. The mystique of Joseph Beuys, both the character he created for himself and how those themes played out in his work, the way he would engage with his audience in open dialogue, and the intentional and symbolic way he used materials in his work, are inspirational and aspirational to me.