Today we’d like to introduce you to Siobhan Arnold.
Siobhan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I don’t remember a time in my life when I was not making art of some kind or other.
My mom was a painter and a poet, so drawing, painting, and making things was a very natural activity to me. I remember going with my mom to her college art and philosophy classes at a very young age and always having a pencil and paper on in hand. My mother was raising me on her own, and I would often sit at the bar where she worked, drink cherry cokes, listen to the jukebox, and draw on napkins.
As I grew up, I developed a lot of other interests in addition to the visual arts – writing and literature, music, psychology, and drama. I started as an English Literature major in college, but in the end, I chose the visual arts as my primary field of study, in part because I felt like it was the perfect way to combine all of my areas of interest. I received my undergraduate degree in Art and Design at the University of Chicago with an emphasis in painting.
After moving to Portland, Oregon shortly after graduating, I became part of a community of young artists – mostly transplants from the midwest. It was a really vibrant, creative, and fun time in my life and though I moved away after only a few years, I’m lucky to have maintained many of these friendships.
After Portland, I went to graduate school at the University of California, Santa Barbara where my focus switched to photography, sculpture, and installation. Santa Barbara was a bit of a shock to me after living my entire life in northern climates. I remember students showing up to class barefoot with their surfboards in tow – quite a contrast to my college experience in Chicago!
I met my future spouse, Gilbert Neri, at UCSB and after completing our two year MFA program, we moved up to Seattle where we lived for five years. While in Seattle, we helped build out an artists studio building called Noodleworks where we hosted many exhibitions, performances, and community arts events. Gilbert and I both had “day jobs” back then, and taught community college classes at night.
Our goal to teach full time eventually panned out and we moved back down to California where we taught at Cal State Monterey Bay’s Visual and Public Art department for six years. CSUMB was a young school, and I had the opportunity to help develop the photography area writing the curriculum for several courses.
Eventually, we moved further south to San Diego where we’ve lived for the last 11 years. Since then I’ve taught at a number of colleges including UCSD, Southwestern, MiraCosta, and now CSU San Marcos.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As with anything, there are always challenges that arise. Early on in my career, what was hard was working several jobs while trying to continue my art practice. It’s hard to be creative when you are worrying about paying the rent. And those struggles don’t ever really go away. When I look back, I’m amazed that I was as persistent as I was in remaining dedicated to making art.
Later in my life, the biggest challenge was becoming a mother. I have two amazing sons – 15 and 10. When they were young, my art making slowed to a snail’s pace. They are now at a much more independent age, and I am able to work a lot more. My boys are really brilliant, creative human beings and very supportive of me, despite the occasional eye roll!
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I would characterize my work as mixed media – a combination of photography, collage, textiles, and honestly, whatever material strikes me as interesting at the moment. My work is very sculptural even though the end result is often two dimensional. I often address themes that are feminist in nature, mining history, folklore, and myth as subject matter.
For the last three years, I have been working collaboratively with artist Meagan Shein, whom I met back in Chicago when we were both undergraduate art students. Our collaborative name is Sìen Collective, a reference to the Old English root of the word sight or spectacle.
Meagan lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan so our collaboration can be challenging. But we have been extremely productive these last few years and are able to work together successfully via artists residencies, digital communication, and the good old fashioned postal service.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My husband, Gilbert and our two sons are undeniably my biggest source of support.
Gilbert is also an artist, so he has a unique understanding of the life of an artist – its challenges and rewards. We are partners in both family life and professional life.
My friend and mentor, Olivia Gude, a professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, had a huge influence on me as a young artist finding my own voice and direction. We met when she was an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago.
Years later, I worked with her on a mural project for SPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center) in Los Angeles. We remain close, and I visit her every time I go back to Chicago.
Shortly after graduating from college with an art degree, I got to know my father, Walter Cotten, who was a longtime professor of art at San Diego State University.
His influence on my life was profound. He modeled for me the possibility of life as an artist, a life filled with curiosity, experimentation and hard work. Sadly, I lost him ten years ago, but not before we had become integral parts of each other’s lives.
And for the last several years, my creative partner, Meagan, is my constant companion, supporter, and critic through the ups and downs of the art-making process.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.siobhanarnold.net, www.siencollective.com
- Email: sa@siobhanarnold.net
- Instagram: @siobhan69art, @siencollective
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