Tobia Makover
About
Tobia Makover (tobiamakover.com) is a mixed media artist. She starts with an image, the soul of her work, then encompasses many layers of medium that she paints, carves, torches and then preserves in wax and resin through an encaustic process that dates back to the 1st Century, BCE. Her work has expanded to mixed media, object, and installation art. Internationally acclaimed, Tobia has exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in London, Les Ateliers de L’Image in St. Remy, France, PH-Neutro in Verona, Italy, the Griffin Museum in Boston, AIPAD in New York, Museum of Contemporary Art in Atlanta, and SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah. Her work is also included in the permanent collections of Museum of Contemporary Art in Atlanta, Savannah College of Art and Design and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. She received her MFA in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design and her BA in Sociology and Communications from the American University in Washington, D.C.
Gallery
LACP Interviews Tobia Makover
LACP asks Tobia Makover ten questions about their background, career in and beliefs about photography.
Los Angeles Center of Photography: What kind of photographer are you?
Tobia Makover: I am a self-employed, full-time, working artist. I work in mixed media, specifically, photography, encaustic, object, sculpture and installation.
LACP: How long have you been photographing?
TM: thirty-six years
LACP: Where did you get your training?
TM: I received a double major in communications and sociology from The American University in Washington, D.C. and a M.F.A. in photography from SCAD.
My current (last twenty years) work in encaustics, mixed media, installation, and object art is self taught.
LACP: When did you know you wanted to devote your life to photography?
TM: When I was 19. I was a sophomore in college and was a paid teaching intern in Introduction to Photography. I discovered I understood the visual world much better than the verbal/written one.
LACP: Did you ever come close to giving up?
TM: every. day.
LACP: Have you sacrificed anything by being a photographer?
TM: sanity. money. health/dental insurance.
I am not being tongue-in-cheek here. I was at a crossroads, when I was an adjunct professor and a working artist. A friend told me, to be successful at anything, you need to give all of yourself. After careful consideration, with a business plan in place, I chose to be a full time artist.
LACP: What have you gained by being a photographer?
TM: I have the greatest privilege in the world, pursuing something I am passionate about, something that calms my soul. When I am in the studio, the pieces of my life and the world fall together. I feel complete.
LACP: What classes do you teach at LACP?
TM: I will be teaching a class with good friend and co-conspirator, Lori Vrba, called “the work of art”.
LACP: What do you love most about teaching?
TM: Looking at new work, talking to new people about their work, and helping others put together their own visual puzzle. I always say I am a professional looking at the work of others, and a novice looking at my own. Perspective is everything.
LACP: What advice would you give someone who is thinking about making a career in photography?
TM: Be brave. Be bold. Be adventurous. Be honest. Be yourself.
(and a good business plan if you are not independently wealthy).