Artist

Hello! My name is Mali Szerwo, and I was fortunate to grow up along the coast of Santa Barbara, California, and attend the Visual Arts and Design Academy at Santa Barbara High School, gaining creative and technical instruction. I am now attending Santa Barbara City College with the aim of transferring. I have been creating art for as long as I can remember, and am pursuing a career in Fine Art and Theatre. When approaching creation, I try to meld equal parts passion with execution to create a piece that is both technically and emotionally profound, whether through traditional art or on stage. Often, I find that each creative practice helps cultivate the other, and I am on a journey of discovering how to best combine my love of art with acting. 

My portfolio is an extension of my interactions with the world. Recently, it has centered around the exploration of beauty through the female form: I strive to portray women without an overtly sexualized lens, while also examining and realizing which details contribute to this narrative within my own work. I find myself asking, "why is this beautiful to me or society at large, and what makes it so?" I also find myself using art as a way to document my perception of self and catalog my own experiences; a sort of visual autobiography. My goal with my artistic career is to create a body of art that speaks to the viewer like a conversation, evoking a sense of profound intimacy and a feeling of mutual connectivity.  Ultimately, I would like to share my perspective and further the historic human web of influence. If I can inspire a singular act of creation, debate, or give voice to a deep shared feeling, my job as an artist is accomplished.