THE SCENE/artist profile
Artistprofile
By Megan Rowe
S T E FA N I R O S S I ’ S K E ’ N E K T:
A n ex pl o rat i on of connect ion Stefani Rossi’s newest collection of artwork—ke’ nekt—brings alive the always evolving relationship between connection and isolation. Throughout her career, Stefani has tackled a wide variety of subject matters and mediums—In Bitter | Sweet, she explored the devotional nature of our daily rituals through used coffee filters—but a common thread through all of her work is “a strong exploration of social connection and daily rituals,” Stefani says. “I’m interested in how people interact and how we manage and cope with life.” Stefani started ke’ nekt—a series of micro-paintings of intricate geometric shapes and lines using mica pigment and paper—about eighteen months ago. The largest pieces are eight by eight inches. In each piece, there is at least one shape—sometimes more—that is not touching any of the other shapes. One of Stefani’s friends pointed out in her work, “there’s a promise that there’s going to always be constant movement, and that the relationships between shape—and also metaphorically, the relationship between people—are always going to be changing,” Stefani says. “That’s something that I’m finding hope in as I’m making the images.” 38
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As she’s progressed through this project—she’s made seventy-five in 2020 alone—the shapes began revealing themselves as a series of characters, and that process is continuously evolving. “I’d been making that work for almost a year by the time I started to quarantine and work from home,” Stefani says. “There was an even greater sense of isolation, and I started thinking of the shapes less metaphorically and more as characters. It really did shift how I was making compositions to be more complex.” There is also a freedom in her materials and scale. Rather than painting with oil or acrylic paint on