Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Peggy Sivert. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Peggy, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I was identified as an artist at a young age, supported by both my teachers and parents. Recognized more for my conceptual explorations than traditional art skills, I spent my childhood creating and building a world of my own authentic and autonomous ideas. This naturally led to art school, art teaching and art gallery / nonprofit direction. There is no doubt that (for me) art is life and life is art.
The purpose for art is always my most important concern. I believe that art should spark a light of new perspective to transport the viewer to an emergent awareness of contemporary culture. And although I occupy a tiny portion of the world, I seek a universal language to communicate and reimagine the ordinary through the abstract qualities of art. My aim is to inspire a sense of balance between order and disorder, to find harmony within dissonance and finally to reflect wholeness.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Born in Los Angeles, Peggy Sivert currently lives and works on the Southern edge of LA County, adjacent to a nature preserve that is part of an ancient landslide. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, it is a haven for nature and wildlife and a crisis of broken land. Her work often explores the dichotomy between the broken and the flourishing.
The breakdown is where she feels compelled begin and explore. Characterized by shifts between abstract and figurative modalities, her art often includes discarded things. She uses ancient traditional media in a non-traditional ways as a cultural starting point for her sculpture, carefully piecing together diverse broken parts to make abstract conglomerate forms. The horse is a symbol that recurs in her mixed media work, not only a recognizable form, but also a metaphor of lived experience, history, and a conduit of memory. Sivert’s work shows the value of authentic exploration and experimentation.
Modernist artists Susan Rothenberg and Alberto Giacometti have inspired her art aesthetic and artist Ben Zask is her best critic and provides unwavering support.
Education: BA Art Education from CSU Long Beach / MA Humanities from CSU Dominguez Hills. Exhibitions: regular exhibits at Art galleries throughout Los Angeles and internationally in South Korea, Thailand, and Japan. Charity and Nonprofit work: Peace Corps Volunteer, Belize, Central America, high school Art teacher in Manhattan Beach, CA / founder, curator, director for several nonprofit art galleries in Los Angeles.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Always be open to learning new things
Be Kind, laugh and make close friends
Work Hard and stay focused
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
I have to say that the book that I continue to keep by my side is Tao te Ching, author Lao-Tzu, translated by Stephen Mitchell. Little is known of Lao-Tsu, but it is thought that he could have lived during 551-479 BC.
Having explored many religions and spiritual practices, I found this book to help guide me through my entire life as a most honest, simple and authentic philosophy.
The supreme good is like water,
which nourishes all things without trying to.
It is content with the low places that people distain.
In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don’t try and control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.
Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval
and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back
The only path to serenity.
Contact Info:
- Email: pszask@gmail.com
- Website: www.peggysivert.com
- Instagram: @peggysivert2020
- Facebook: peggy jo sivert
Image Credits
Portrait by Vania Francesca Zask
