Meet Harriet Silverstein | Multimedia Visual Artist, Art Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Harriet Silverstein and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Harriet, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
Success comes from constantly moving the “goal post” that you have placed for yourself. If I hit a creative goal that I have set for myself, it’s really important to move forward as fast as possible, onto something else. I acknowledge the goal passed and I shift my focus to a challenge that I have always wanted to add to my studio practice, like abstract photography this year. Some goals are harder than others and some transitions are smoother than others. It takes discipline. The discipline habits that go with my work develop over time and continue to change. Taking time to reflect is very important. Take time to rest your mind. Unstructured time is a balance for me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a multimedia visual artist actively creating paintings, sculpture, collage, photography and Transformational Immersive Multimedia Installations. My creative expansions into Photography and Multimedia Installations are recent, occurring in the last 12 months, and were immediately exhibited in two major 2021 exhibitions in Broward County, FL.. All of my art is recognizable for its powerful, energized, gestural application of artistic materials and a very sensual, tactile, textural quality to my artistic surfaces. I”m most proud of the fact that my work is clearly recognizable in all the visual media I choose and that I constantly choose to challenge myself with diverse new media, creating artworks that are selected for gallery exhibitions. I thrive on creative stretch. There is tremendous freedom in discovering new media or new conceptual approaches to my visual art and being truly openminded and surprised by the finished results.

This last 18 months have been an expansive artistic time for me. I had the awesome opportunity to create 2 separate Transformative Multimedia Installations in two different concurrent exhibitions – “Diaspora,” at the Coral Springs Museum of Art and “Changing Landscapes,” at Artserve, Fort Lauderdale. Both installations were originally presented as diagrams and approved by the Senior Curators and Directors at the respective art institutions. This was a huge challenge because I had never made even one Multimedia Installation before. I combined traditional materials like oil paintings on canvas with materials that I had not experimented with before – all kinds of textiles and commercial paints and enamels. I loved the creative stretch and am still thinking about these experiences. I love art that reveals process, bold strokes or lines of color that contain creative energy. Collectors who follow my work discover and enjoy this creative growth with me, as a genuine and exciting process. I am always open to commissions in any media and love to collaborate with clients in painting and sculpture.

Professionally, it’s logical to me that developing as an artist is not easy. There are so many facets to it – developing the work, presenting it, learning what works best and what doesn’t, understanding the market or markets where your art belongs, understanding where you want your art to belong. It’s an ongoing work in progress, always shifting and changing. That’s the beauty of it. For me, everything works best when I follow my intuition creatively and am open to experiments. It also takes persistent effort so, there is a kind of reflexive non-stop energy at work. That takes time to develop. A studio practice is something you build over time and it’s a beautiful process.

I’ve had excellent opportunities throughout my life and I’m grateful for everything. There have been some challenges too and overcoming these requires intentional effort – enjoy the successes, analyze rejections and try again, refuse to stop. On a personal level, there are always parts of life that demand attention. One major lesson I’ve learned is that there is no such thing as work/life balance. Real balance happens with the energy you put in and what you get out of different aspects of life that contribute to well-being. There is no perfection to aim at but, there is excellence and you just know when you feel it’s there.

I welcome commissions in painting and sculpture and am experienced in creating commissioned artworks, for both commercial and residential clients.. My most recent work is always posted on both Facebook and Instagram.. My website is currently updating but can still be seen at HarrietSilverstein.com. I am currently Artist-in-Residence at the History Museum of Fort Lauderdale. My Studio there is a gallery of paintings, sculptures and more. All are welcome to visit during museum hours, 7 day a week.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My friend loves seeing beautiful places and art so it is easy to show off the arts, culture and natural beauty of Fort Lauderdale and more.

Day 1 – We start in downtown Fort Lauderdale History Museum, visit my art studio there, and then tour the NSU Museum. of Art. We have lunch on Las Olas Boulevard, and walk the beautiful boulevard. Next, we visit Fort Lauderdale beach and enjoy dinner at a restaurant with a great ocean view.

Day 2 – We relax at the beautiful beach and have lunch on A1A near Fort Lauderdale beach. Later, we go to dinner at Casablanca Restaurant, loving the outdoor view and fresh sea air.

Day 3 – We head to Fat Village Contemporary Art, the Urban Brew Café, and then Art Trax Gallery. We head to Far Gallery and lunch is at Henri’s Sandwich Shop. A brief tour of the MASS district is followed by a lively dinner at Taverna Opa.

Day 4 – We head north to Pompano Beach. Stop at beach, continue to Deerfield Beach, walk the pier, and have a break at JB’s or the Patio Bar. Next up, we tour The Bailey Center for Contemporary Art and relax with dinner at Sea Watch Restaurant and its amazing view.

Day 5 – Next up, we explore West Broward, where I live. The tranquil soothing nature walk in Fern Forest Park is an urban oasis of calm. After our walk, we see the current exhibitions at Coral Springs Museum of Art, and the Historic Covered Bridge in Coral Springs, followed by dinner at Bluefin Sushi in Parkland. Our last stop is a Jazz concert at Pompano Beach Cultural Center.

Day 6 – We discover Miami and Wynwood. We walk through the Wynwood community and tour the Bake House artist studios and exhibitions. After a stop for coffee we continue to the Perez Museum of Art, another of my favorite places. We enjoy multiple contemporary exhibitions there and stop for lunch at the Museum Café for lunch, with its outstanding view. For a relaxing evening, we enjoy GalleryOne. We have dinner at the Doubletree Suites by Hilton Hotel in Fort Lauderdale.

Day 7 – We take the Airboat ride and tour of the Everglades, enjoying Florida’s natural beauty. We choose to have dinner at Arun’s Indian Food, Coral Springs.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This ShoutOut is to 3 amazing curators: Jodi Jeffreys Tanner, Director and Curator at Las Olas Capital Arts Gallery in Fort Lauderdale FL.; Carol Teti Keesler, Director & Curator at GalleryOne in Fort Lauderdale.; and Senior Curator Sophie Bonet at ArtServe, Fort Lauderdale. These ultra – outstanding women dedicate themselves to creating uniquely beautiful gallery platforms for contemporary artists, and actively advancing the importance of visual art in our community. I’m proud to write that I have had opportunities to exhibit my work in all of these fabulous galleries with a solo exhibition at Las Olas Capitol Arts Gallery in 2018, the “Depiction” group exhibition at GalleryOne in 2019 , the current “Must See” exhibition at GalleryOne. and “Superficial Impressions” and “Changing Landscapes” at Artserve 2021. Working with Jodi, Carol and Sophie is an extraordinary experience for me because I learn so much from each of them and truly admire their energy and knowledge. It is a real gift when a perceptive and skilled curator transforms artistic participation in a gallery exhibition into a real creative experience with lasting impact.

Website: HarrietSilverstein.com

Instagram: @harriet.silverstein

Facebook: @HarrietSilversteinArtist

Image Credits
Headshot by Hank Henley Photography