+ 
  + 
## 
* About
* Magazine
# Interview with WRHC Winner in Visual Art, Ethan Swanberg
May 13, 2021
*What was your inspiration behind drawing “Harvested Selfhood”?*
The concept of fruit and vegetable portraiture was definitely inspired by the artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo. He’s a 14th-century Italian artist that did a lot of intricate portraiture using anything from babies to books! A lot of his work is surrealist feeling, but he did it before it was cool. I ran with the concept for a drawing assignment and then later recycled it to create the lithography print that you see in the magazine.
*I see that besides drawing, you also create collages. What about that process attracts you to it?*
I find that I get really uncomfortable using the same medium for too long. I go back and forth between all kinds of artmaking. I think doing so helps me gain perspective on my own creative processes and forces me to grow as an artist. Collage, however, I actually find really difficult and it’s not something I practice often. It feels like completing a very frustrating puzzle that you have to find the various pieces to. What I most enjoy about it, though, is how expressive and silly it can be.
*What do you enjoy most about the creative work that you do?*
I most enjoy the making process behind the work I create – especially recently through printmaking. It’s fascinating how labor-intensive and detail-oriented printmaking can be. I think all the time and work it requires offers me a form of escapism, both from myself and the world, and enables me to translate my thoughts into tangible things. Printmaking, specifically, has enhanced how methodical and particular I am and I like seeing those qualities reflected in my work and the work of other creatives.
*Is there something you want the audience to feel or think about when viewing your pieces?*
I’m not sure. Whatever they find to feel I suppose. When I make, I don’t typically have a message or intention that I want to project onto others. Art is a therapeutic exercise for me that creates manifestations of my experiences and feelings, and I more often view it as something for me rather than for others.
*How long have you been making art? Do you have a favorite memory of creating art?*
I’ve been making art since I can remember. I’ve always been a creative person and I like to let that aspect of me come to the forefront in everything I do. I’m not sure I have one favorite memory of creating art, though.
*Have you continued to create art since being published in*Scribendi*?*
Yes and no. I’m currently a nursing student at UNM and don’t have much time or energy to create as freely as I once did. That being said, I find that a vast majority of my ideas for pieces enter my mind during times of stress – so I have a lot of ideas at the moment. I’d love to find a way to incorporate my interest in art and nursing together somehow.
*Having gone through the process, what would you say to people who want to create something and submit to Scribendi in the future?*
This is my second year being published and both times I’ve made it a point to submit work that I was interested in, not necessarily what I thought would be published. I’d say go with your gut even if you’re unsure! You’ll regret it if you don’t!
# Post navigation
### Contact Information
**Phone**
Honors college: (505) 277-4211
**Email**
scribendi@unm.edu
**Mailing Address**
c/o UNM Honors College
MSC06 3890
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
### Donate
### Subscribe to the Newsletter
\* indicates required
Email Address \*
First Name
Last Name
**Email Format**
* html
* text
© 2025  All Rights Reserved.