Interview with an artist: Aimee Cozza

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Who are you and where are you from?

My name is Aimee Cozza, and I am from New England. Originally from Massachusetts, I live on the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

 

Can you tell us about your latest project?

My latest project is a series I call “Worlds”. Essentially, this series is based upon the idea that things may not always be as they seem. Each idea for the separate works are based upon real scenarios and real situations – although there is something “off” about each one. This may range from something small (in example, in one image, there are two blood moons reflected in the background of an image), to something larger and more noticeable. There are worlds inside of this world in this series.

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What message do you want people to receive from your artwork?

I think the message of my artwork varies from piece to piece. As an illustrator, I’m often drawing a multitude of things and constantly trying to “shake it up”. I think any artist wants people to make their own assumptions and develop their own messages about works. Speaking just for myself, though, I feel like I almost like it better when people see things in a work of yours. They really make a connection, and if you drew something just for the sake of drawing it, and someone can come up to it, view it, and tell you this incredibly in depth conclusion they came to… Well, that’s a really “that’s it” moment for me. Drawing makes me whole, as I’m sure many other creatives feel about their works, so having someone validate my work in that way is just stunning to me.

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Do you remember your first creative work, the moment you knew that you where an artist?

This is a tough question! I grew up in a household that was fairly supportive of my creative endeavors. My mom was always the creative type, and my grandmother was an excellent painter. There was never a huge “a-ha” moment for me – I kind of always knew that I had some way of natural talent and/or skill since I was young. My mother to this day jokes that I dwarf “any sort of drawing [she] could do.”

 

Who are your favorite artist and inspirations?

The list is so incredibly long. I have a lot of musical inspirations and artistic inspirations. I like to pull a lot of musical aspects into my works (if that makes sense) if I can; sometimes I reference songs or bands in my titles or descriptions. Some of my favorite and most inspirational visual artists are: Chet Zar, Wendy Ortiz, Marcelo Frusin, Greg Capullo, Angel Medina, Jose Quesada, Cam de Leon, and Alex Grey just to name a few. I follow so many visual artists on social channels that it’s easy to forget who my “favorites” may be… I love it all.

I also of course draw a ton of inspiration from my artistic friends – Tory Keith, Patrick Termini, Jason Shulkin, Sam Paolini, Sharon Hamer, Sarah Hamilton and a bunch of others I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention.

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What tools do you use to create?

I’m a big time digital user. Since I live in a fairly small home, I don’t have a lot of room to store traditional art supplies and paintings. So I turn to digital illustration to fix that for me. My workspace is pretty cramped – I just treated myself to upgrading to an on-screen drawing tablet, which is really fun and streamlines my drawing process a lot.

In the past it’s been sketch, scan, computer, and off-screen tablet, but the process varies from work to work depending on the desired outcome or even where/when I got the idea. Sometimes a work can start being majorly traditional and then get pulled in as a digital work for edits – sometimes the reverse happens, and sometimes it’s a 100% digital work from start to finish.

 

Where can we see more of your art, what other places has your work been published?

The best of the best (in my opinion, anyway) can be viewed at my personal website at aimeecozza.com. I’m also an avid DeviantART, Society6, RedBubble, Tumblr, Instagram, and Twitter user. I’m all over the web – chances are I’m probably on most of the obscure art websites out there. My work has been included in Creative Quarterly, Zaum, Wrong Brain, ArtQuench, and other independent ‘zines.

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What do you see yourself doing in 20 years?

I’m hoping I’ll be in a position that I’ll be doing illustration – or something creative – as a full time way to support myself. I’m good at a lot of things but art is seriously my passion and something I’d love to be more involved with when it comes to my career.

Optimally I’m going to hope for something pretty simple: being able to have the time and energy to draw and create at my own space. That’s it – that’s all I want.

 

If you could work on a creative project with anyone in the world from any period in time who would it be?

That’s a really good question. I love collaborating with anyone and everyone, so it’s very difficult for me to pick.

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Any last words you would like to say to the Section 8 Magazine readers worldwide?

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak out! Section 8 Magazine is such a wonderful place for artists and writers alike to connect as well as display their works. I love what you guys are doing and I hope you keep up the awesome work.

If anyone is ever interested in collaborating, working on group projects, or otherwise, they can contact me via any social media channel or via my contact form on my website, aimeecozza.com . I love connecting with new people and seeing what we can come up with together!

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Global artists and writers dedicated to sharing creativity around the world.

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