Studio Visit with Painter Lee Ann Scotto Adams - Inside Art with Michael Rose

Studio Visit with Painter Lee Ann Scotto Adams - Inside Art with Michael Rose

 

Rhode Island scenery is a frequent subject for local artists, but Cranston-based painter Lee Ann Scotto Adams looks for inspiration in novel places. In sensuous and brushy artworks, Adams celebrates vernacular architecture, backyards, alleys, and the lesser seen bits of her neighborhood and the broader world. A talented artist and arts administrator, she is a vital presence on the cultural scene.

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In her studio at her home, Adams makes paintings that describe place and environment. Often, her gaze is directed at unsuspecting views of local neighborhoods. A suburban home or an urban street might come into focus. Both are treated with equal care and result in images that range from poignant to melancholic to evocatively mysterious.

 

 

Speaking about her key aesthetic interests, Adams states, “I’m always drawn to architecture and how it intersects with the environment. The geometry of a structure against the landscape really appeals to me. The drama of an unsettled sky undulating behind a rooftop; the intensely bright patch of light slipping through the alley between a house and garage; the splintered reflections of light in a curtained window; these things are so seductive. If you dig just a little at the surface of these physical/visual things, it’s easy to make a connection between a dwelling and the psychological state of its occupant. For this reason, I love capturing quotidian human remnants in the landscape; like a satellite dish or a tipped chair. These mundane objects belie the complex human experience of the dwellers. I like the juxtaposition.”

 

 

Originally from northern Rhode Island, Adams is one of two siblings in her family to attend RISD, where she studied Illustration. After graduating, she worked at Christie’s Auction House in New York before entering a career in arts administration. Today, she is Executive Director of the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), which collects and analyzes information about formally trained artists.

 

Describing her day job, Adams is enthusiastic, saying, “I believe this work is critical to preserve the arts in higher education under the increasing regulatory accountability that will impact art schools more than most higher education programs. Increasingly, the value of programs across higher ed is being measured by economic ROI. The SNAAP data provide a more nuanced story of the career trajectories of artists and creatives in society, as opposed to the flattened picture of the cost of degree vs. income. This is critical to proving the value of an arts education - an education that launches so many artists into their life’s work.”

 

 

Asked how she balances work and her artistic practice, Adams answers, “I think my creative practice informs my professional work and vice versa. Painting for me is such an outlet. I have to believe that all of the creative problem-solving that goes into making a painting informs creative solutions in my professional work. The two things have to be connected. The challenge is finding the time to accomplish everything in a day.”

 

 

A selection of Adams’ enticing paintings is currently on view at Noon Designs in Pawtuxet Village and her next exhibition will be a group affair at Overlap Gallery in Newport. On view from June 21 - July 23, 2023, the show, titled Striking the Set, will feature Adams alongside Jean Blackburn, Ernest Jolicoeur, and Kirstin Lamb. Both her show at Noon and her group exhibition in Newport will offer viewers the opportunity to discover one of the region’s most gifted painters.

 

 

 

 

Asked about the Overlap exhibition, Adams says, “I’m really excited about this show. To exhibit work with Jean Blackburn, a beloved professor of mine from RISD from over 20 years ago, is such an honor. The theme of this show explores the home as a psychological state and I am one of four artists in the show who approach this theme in their work in such different ways. I think one of the takeaways for visitors would be to look at the genre of landscape painting through a different lens. I think so many people appreciate the aesthetic sensibility of a landscape painting without thinking deeper about meaning and metaphor. For this reason, I think it’s a genre that can often be reduced to home decor; a pleasing picture to hang over the sofa. As a painter, it’s fun to think about subverting this.”

 

 

 

 

Reflecting on her love of her home state, which features in so many of her wonderful paintings, Adams points to the thrilling contrasts of Rhode Island, which she describes as including everything from parking lots to beaches, professors to fishermen. By making paintings that wistfully document local views in her distinct hand, Adams is picturing life in the Ocean State while also producing resolutely beautiful paintings.

 

Learn more about Lee Ann Scotto Adams at her website www.leeannscottoadams.com.