Natalie Serber

"There are two visual artists, diametrically opposed in their intent, who I look to for inspiration. First is the photographer Gregory Crewdson [2]. His extravagantly staged photos are mysterious and dark and often suggest relationships or the very recent loss of relationships. Crewdson, the son of a psychiatrist, has said in an interview that his work is driven by a need to imagine and understand what his father was talking to patients about in his basement office. The people in his photos appear so closed off, tight-lipped. They seem to be struggling with submerged emotions. Faced with a Crewdson image, I find myself looking for the story. On the other end of the spectrum is one of my favorite painters, Mark Rothko [3], who famously said that the subject of painting is painting. His colorscapes offer me a place of ease. I don’t question and wonder and strive to make a story when I stand in front of a Rothko, I just absorb and rest." 
—Natalie Serber, author of Shout Her Lovely Name (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012)