In creating the cover for this issue, Amelia Rozear of Providence says she wanted to depict “the glow of warmth after a cold, cold winter. It’s the grandeur of spring taking over, and taking over someone totally.” A tea lover, one of her favorite cafés is Tea in Sahara; this is evident in her cover art. Rozear drew a teapot and lid flying off a small table, symbolizing spring bursting forth like a strong wind. “It adds to the movement in my piece,” she explains.
Other places she frequents, always with two sketchbooks and an iPad in her tote, are Coffee Exchange and, when the weather’s nice, India Point Park. She works part-time at the Providence Athenaeum to bring balance and structure to her life through community. It was in high school, in Hamden, CT, that Rozear discovered “art was the one thing I never got bored of. It held my interest the most out of all the subjects I took.” She attended Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), graduating Class of 2022. She’s been teaching art online at Art Prof since.
“I love teaching because it reminds me of all the stuff I know, while I, in turn, learn new things,” she says. “I’m always growing.” This year, Rozear and two of her artenthusiast friends launched the Gilded Eye Podcast, which is recorded in the studio at nonprofit LitArts RI, of which she’s a member. The trio talk about significant themes, along with artists and their works. Through the podcast, she explores the works of her favorite artists, such as the symbolist Gustav Klimt and the expressionist Egon Schiele, and movements like Impressionism and Art Nouveau.
One of the themes flowing through Rozear’s own work is childhood. She’s the eldest of three sisters, and the majesty of the imagination and sense of wonder they had as children enamors her. “I want to maintain that in my art,” she says. The artist also finds inspiration in the modern illustrative styles of her peers from RISD, especially Julie Benbassat, who was three years ahead of her. “Julie’s work is really inspiring to me,” she says, showing samples of Benbassat’s work on Instagram.
Rozear has participated in group exhibitions from Massachusetts to Maryland. Last year, she was the main curator of an exhibition of ten artists at Sprout CoWorking Gallery in Providence. “It was really cool and fun,” she says, “Working with friends from RISD, and deciding with manager Kelly Brown which pieces go where.” One of her current projects is a portrait commission from Dirt Palace, a feminist nonprofit arts space in the capital city, for Gather. Set for this summer, the exhibition will showcase women founders and inventors throughout history. Rozear is working on a portrait of Mary Engle Pennington, who developed refrigeration techniques to keep food fresh, and safe. “She’s very important in our dayto-day lives.”
Asked to name her favorite piece that she’s created, Rozear replied, “My work strikes me differently when I look back on it. My favorite changes all the time, like the color schemes in my art which change by season, and the mood I’m in.” For now, she named Catharsis, which is a spread of four different scenes taken from her sketchbook and put together via an application technique, and Bursting, which is a divine being exploding with light emanating from her chest “inspired by emotion taking hold.” She concludes, “Most of my paintings give the feeling of whimsy and wonder and imagined beings, but with an underlying sinister sense, of something unnerving. Both aspects mirror each other.”
Rozear’s artwork and craftwork, which include rugs and tarot cards, can be viewed at her website, arozear.com
