March 26, 2025 • 41 mins
In this episode of The Truth In This Art, I welcome Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm, a self-taught Montreal-based artist whose captivating paintings of female figures have garnered international recognition. We explore her journey as a self-made artist and single mother, discovering how the birth of her daughter ignited her passion for painting and became the driving force behind her career. Roxanne shares her meticulous artistic process, from developing initial concepts and mood boards to photographing street-cast models, which serve as the foundation for her evocative and symbolic oil paintings. We also explore the deeply personal and autobiographical nature of her work, discussing how she uses the female form as a vessel to convey her own experiences, emotions, and messages, creating a visual diary of her life.
If you are interested in the journey of a self taught artist, or the creation of evocative female figure paintings, this episode with Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm is a must listen. Tune in to hear about her artistic process and inspiration.
Don't miss Roxanne's first solo show! She's visiting the US and debuting at the Arch Enemy Arts - 13th Anniversary Exhibition on April 4th at 109 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Learn more here:
Be sure to listen to Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm's episode here.
Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:
- Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
- Edited by Daniel Alexis
- Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor
Photos:
- Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
- Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rob Lee (00:11):
Welcome back to the Truth in Us Art, your source for
conversations joining arts,culture, and community. These
are stories that matter, and Iam your host, Rob Lee. Thank you
so much for joining me. Today,my next guest is a self taught
artist from Montreal, Quebec,Canada, a painter known for her
highly photorealistic approachto depicting subjects that
(00:32):
reinterpret classical paintingsand motifs. Her work has been
exhibited and collectedinternationally, and we last
spoke in 2023.
And I'm really looking forwardto catching up and hearing what
she's been up to. Please welcomeback to the program, Roxie
Peroxide. Roxanne Sorio HelenHerm. Welcome back to the
podcast.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (00:52):
Thank you for having me.
Rob Lee (00:54):
Thank you for coming on. It's it's been, and thank
you thank you for coming backon. You know, like, it's it's
like when you have a class oryou do, like, a review or
something, you're like, I hopeeveryone likes me. I hope they
wanna come back. So being ableto have folks come back, it's
it's truly a a testament.
And, and then and over the youknow, looking at, you know, sort
(01:16):
of these interviews as we weretouching on a little bit before
we got started, I you and Ispoke back in 2023, and, you
know, it's been a lot that'shappened in the last few years.
So could you, if you will,reintroduce yourself to the
listeners who aren't, you know,familiar with who you are. And,
you know, could you share someof the biggest changes that have
taken place over the last coupleof years for you and your work?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (01:38):
Yeah. So I'm Roxanne Soriel, Roxie for
Roxanne for socials. I'm a selftaught painter. I started,
around when I was like 21 when Iwas in maternity leave. And, I
(02:01):
haven't stopped since.
And yeah, that's me. I don'tknow. Yeah. Next question was,
okay. What I've been up to, justright now, it's just constant
work.
But since 2023, I'm not sureexactly. I I've done a bunch of,
(02:26):
group shows, no solo shows yet,but two solo shows coming up,
this year.
Rob Lee (02:37):
K. Here here's the cool thing. Here's the cool thing you
just did right there.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (02:41):
What did I
Rob Lee (02:42):
You you answered one of my last questions, which is
great so I can, like, cut thatone off. So you you're making my
job easier. So so shout out toyou. Alright. So and thank you
for for catching up with usbecause, you know, you see
folks, they're they're doingstuff.
They're putting work out there,and we're gonna go a bit a bit
deeper in it. So I look at, youknow, shifts. And, you know, as
(03:06):
I was saying a bit earlier, Iwanted to kinda catch up with
folks and sort of a shift torevisiting things, something
that's that's been sitting therefor me and especially in, like,
exploring what I wanna do forfor this year and what I'm doing
in this interview as an example.So artistically or
professionally, what's shiftedfor you the most in, let's say,
(03:26):
the last year?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (03:28):
So I was, reaching a point where I
felt that I was, just repeatingmyself. So so as soon as this
happens, normally what what whatI do is just, try something
completely new or flip somethingor just try to think outside of
(03:52):
the box. So as some viewers oryou may know, I was, often,
reinterpreting like old oldmasters, works. But I realized
that this was like gettingreally, really limiting. And I
(04:13):
was basically I painted myselfin a corner basically by doing
that because as much as it wasinteresting for the time being,
there was only, like, the workthat that's known and that have
has already been done.
Like there's only so, so many ofthem. So I reached a point where
(04:34):
I just felt it was justrepeating itself constantly. And
I, I don't like that. So then,and then I realized after that
also that I was basically usingthat to validate, a narrative,
like, that wasn't necessarilymine, but that would be
(04:57):
validated within, like, societybecause those works already
exist. And by twisting them, I'madding my own little, grain of
salt, but or big grain of saltdepending on which ones.
But, then it just became thiswhole thing, like, a little bit
(05:17):
like making an excuse for notactually looking within and just
daring to just say what the fuckI wanna say. So sorry. Can I
swear?
Rob Lee (05:29):
You're good.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (05:29):
Okay. So then I just started, stepping
out of this completely, keepingthe same, like, the same,
subject, matter and format andcolors and all that is very
recognizable still. But oh, mycat jumped on my shoulder. And
(05:54):
and so, so I started just,talking more about myself and
just, yeah, just not, notbasically using things as a
crutch, or yeah.
Rob Lee (06:13):
So, so in it, you, in terms of like the shifting a
bit, you you wanted to be a abit more personal in the work
because you were seeing that youfelt like you were repeating
yourself and sort of the thetype of work that you were doing
or sort of the the subjectmatter you felt like you were
repeating and maybe adding thatthat grain? Yeah. It was small.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (06:34):
It was like a, like, it was like a,
like a sand box. You know, youplay within some limitations.
And then I reached a point whereI explored everything that was
to be explored within that thatsandbox. And then I got bored
with it, and I got and then Idecided that it was time for me
to, to just dare, just talkabout whatever comes to my mind
(07:00):
without, like, a point ofreference, which was basically
in that case, the old masters,works that I was referring to on
my paintings. So, yeah.
Rob Lee (07:12):
So you're, so you're moving to a different sandbox.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (07:14):
Yes. Not really because now it's
infinite sandbox. Cause now it'sjust me. It's just like whatever
my brain, it's my brain'slimitations now. So it, it, it's
sometimes a little bit, notscary, but sometimes you like,
it's the blank page, syndrome.
Okay.
Rob Lee (07:34):
No. No. That makes sense. I think when we we
started looking at our atourselves, like, I use use this
as sort of my reference point.This is my creative thing.
Right? And, you know, I'm nottrying to do the same thing that
other people are doing or tryingto do my version of it.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (07:51):
Mhmm.
Rob Lee (07:51):
But I find I found that some of the early interviews,
especially going back throughsome of these because some of
these interviews or some of theguests that I'm talking to
again, they were from early inthe show. I'm like, yo. I was
not a good interviewer then, orI didn't have any insight, or I
was trying to be like someoneelse and put my own play on it.
Now when I go through, I'm like,alright. I got some confidence
(08:12):
here.
It's a little scary because
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (08:14):
Yeah. Yeah. For sure.
Rob Lee (08:15):
Some of you creative types. Some of you you are is a
little little intimidating. I'mlooking at one right now. You
know, it's intimidating, youknow, with the punk background
and all.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (08:24):
Oh, what? Me? Yeah.
Rob Lee (08:30):
So and and and so and thank you for giving us that.
I'm gonna go a little bitdeeper. So what kind of work
excites you as, like, as anartist, but also as a viewer or
an appreciated appreciator ofart? What are the
characteristics and things ofthat nature? Like, And maybe how
have your your taste changed?
(08:51):
Like, talk about, you know, sortof what you like right now,
maybe what you like when youfirst got started. Like, what do
you look for creatively and asan as an artist and as a art
appreciator?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (09:01):
Yeah. I feel like there's a lot of,
and thankfully there's a lot ofweird shit coming out now. Like
there's so much weird shit andI'm, I'm so there for it. Like
there's this whole, new genre oflike paintings that look like,
(09:21):
video game, like from theFebruary. And they look like a
little bit, blurry kind of thepaint with the air airbrush, I
think.
And there's this whole genrethat is like, that is being born
right now. And I'm super excitedfor, for that because that's
(09:43):
basically the young people rightnow that are, like, that are
exploring and that are sayingwhatever is crossing their mind.
And they're unhinged. They'realso like, they don't have that.
I feel like they don't reallyhave that kind of, self they
(10:04):
don't self censor really.
They'd be it's like, they've gotrid of that already. The they're
not from like the generation ofpeople who just got on social
media, like the millennialsthey're the like gen Zs and even
younger than that. And theyjust, they, they don't care what
you think. They just, they'rejust there for their own art,
(10:25):
and the more original, thebetter. And I I'm just really,
really excited for for that.
Actually, this is what I'm I'mreally looking at right now, and
I'm always, impressed and just,that very, very, very inspiring,
and I can't wait to to see moreof that.
Rob Lee (10:44):
I'm hearing the the weirder things. I'm hearing sort
of that Oh, yeah. Thatunapologetic pursuit to create.
You know, it's like, this iswhat I wanna make. I don't care
what you want.
This is what I'm making. This iswhat my art is right now.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (10:58):
Yeah. They'll just, like, paint, like,
a random cat, like, if, like, ina corner with a in a bathtub.
Like, it's just it's become,it's becoming like whatever it's
becoming everything and nothing,but everything at the same time.
And it's just such like, it'svery, internet culture moment.
So I'm, I'm here for it.
(11:20):
I like it.
Rob Lee (11:21):
I love that. Yeah. Like painting sort of what you know,
or or creating, you know, makingart around what that experience
is. And it's it's like I may dosomething completely different,
but right now, I'm gonna, like,paint this cat right here.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (11:36):
Yeah. And yeah, they don't explain
themselves either, which I, Ilove. I, I like, I've never
actually explained myself. Thisis unless you're at a show,
you're talking to me directlyand you're near asking me a
question, then I might explainto you what, what I mean in a
specific painting. But otherwiseI find it so much more
(11:57):
interesting to know what theviewer is thinking.
Cause I already knew what I'mthinking And the the art is not
there for me to tell you what tothink. It's there for you to
experience and make whatever youwant from it.
Rob Lee (12:09):
I and I think when you're when the viewer is
allowed to just kinda cook andkinda just be with it, that's
where you actually havediscourse and you have people
saying, oh, well, I saw thishere or, well, I saw that or did
you see this part? And but ifsomeone like your yourself or
someone the the artist, theperson making it saying, this is
(12:30):
exactly what it is, it cuts thatconversation short.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (12:33):
Yeah. And there's no room to oh, well
and also, like, people thinkabout stuff that I've never even
thought of before. And I'm like,what? Oh, maybe that that's
subconsciously, I did that. Imean, thank you.
You were letting me know. Like,it's I the less I say, the the
more I I can receive, basically.
Rob Lee (12:54):
Yeah. And and I and I love being able to talk with,
like, creative folks, withartists because I'm always
learning something new. And whensomeone is, like, listens to
this podcast, even before theycome home, if they listen to the
podcast and they tell me thatyou remind me of this, you
remind me of that. I'm like, oh,that's not even an influence.
(13:15):
Something else for me to checkout and maybe learn from or
something else to add to myconsumption.
You know what I mean?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (13:22):
Yeah.
Rob Lee (13:23):
So I have this question about rebellion, you know,
rebelling against the system.And sometimes the systems are,
like, self imposed. Right? So,like, I I find that some artists
and I think you you touched onthis a bit earlier, but I think
some artists practice rebellingrebelling against themselves,
the artists that maybe they usedto be, the work that they used
(13:43):
to make. Is that something thatyou overtly, like, practice?
It's like, nah. I gotta just getpast this. And I say that
because I'm listening to, one ofmy favorite one of my favorite
musicians is is The Weeknd and,you know, fellow Aquarius as
well. So I got it. And he's acomedian.
(14:03):
Right? And and I'd listened tothis interview, and he was
talking about he needed to killthe idea of The Weeknd, and
maybe he'll continue it, but,also, he feels like he wants to
make music as himself. Maybethat's a genre change. He's
rebelling against what's beensuccessful, creative. Is that
something that that you thinkabout in terms of sort of that
(14:25):
that sandbox conversation wewere having earlier?
Or Absolutely.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (14:28):
Well, it's not even that I think about
it. It's just it's, in mynature. I just always rebel
against whatever I'm starting tofeel comfortable in. And to come
back to what you were sayingabout the weekend, it's, there's
(14:49):
a term in, with, with, withauthors that they're using and
it's, it says, I think, Ibelieve that it's, it's called
kill to kill your darlings. Andthat's basically just kill, kill
the, kill the thing you lovemost so that it's something you
(15:10):
can be reborn or, yeah.
And when you're exploitingsomething too much or a
character too much, it's time tokill the character and to like
start new or introduce somethingelse. I believe that this is
absolutely key, at least for my,for my practice, for my
(15:33):
practice. I, I don't see myself,or I don't want to see myself
repeating myself and doing thesame thing over and over again.
Rob Lee (15:42):
That's good. I, you know, I had to really go through
and listen to and review thequestions from the previous
interviews to make sure I'm notasking the same question again
because I was like, no. I don'tknow. But
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (15:52):
I would probably not have the same
answer anyway.
Rob Lee (15:56):
But I just I just think it's Goshen. So so with it, it's
the I I recently got from afriend. It it was shipped to me.
It was like a late, like,birthday present or have you. It
was a, George Carlin book, thethe comedian.
And I I remember reading overhis background and one of the
things and, I think still likean artist that he would do was
(16:18):
he would take his jokes and hewould get rid of his joke book
each year. It's like, this isthe material that I've done. Now
it's gone. You know, after I'vedone it, not to, you know, or
after he's done it not to kindadive back in. Maybe you'll
arrive to a same insight orobservation, but you're gonna do
something different.
And I I find that reallyinteresting, and I applied that
(16:40):
to when I write questions, I tryto have, like, a long list of
questions, and I try tocategorize them of this could be
an interesting insight. But I'malways changing that process. I
used to have a just set list ofquestions, and you would see
some recycled and some tweaked.But I'm always tweaking and and
rerefining the process, whetherit be how I go about
(17:03):
preproduction, how I go aboutdoing an interview, how I even,
you know, you know, roll out aninterview. Are you with sort of
like, are you changing ordisrupting your process maybe to
find something new within your,your, your art process?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (17:20):
Yeah. Like recently I changed, I'm
starting to paint on lineninstead of canvas. And it's
actually a big shift in the,like the way that the, the linen
absorbs the paint is completelydifferent and it creates, it's
just so much better. And I wasterrified of using it because
(17:44):
imposter syndrome, I don't know.And I was like, this is like
more expensive.
This is really worth it. Like,what am I doing? Is it, is there
really a change? And now I, Ijust can't go back. So I've done
that as well.
When I, I started painting withoils, I was painting like for
ten or twelve years withacrylics and then I wasn't
getting any better and I wasn'treally improving. And I was
(18:06):
like, this time it's time for meto change something. Cause I'm,
I'm getting bored and I notactually improving anything. So
I got to switch things up. Andthis is when I moved from
acrylics to oils, It was a bitof a transition period where
like, I have to actually learnhow to use just the medium, just
the way that the paint spread iscompletely different.
(18:30):
Not to get it into my face asmuch or, you know, so, so, yeah,
I always try to to keep movingwhenever I feel, some sort of
stagnant, energy, creeping in.
Rob Lee (18:47):
How how often are you painting these days? Is it,
like, a notice noticeable, like,uptick now that you're, like, a
a lot busier? Is it sort of,like, pretty static that, yeah,
I'm gonna do, you you know, acertain number in a course of a
day or in a week, a number ofhours that you're working on, or
is it project or I don't.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (19:06):
I'm like super, super, super busy
right now. I'm actually working.I've been working seven days a
week for the past month and ahalf or two months ever, like
ever since Christmas, even onChristmas, I was working. But
anyways, so yeah, I've beenworking nonstop, Sundays. These
(19:28):
days I've been shootingreference photos.
So that's like my day off, butthat's not really a day off. I'm
actually working. I'm justtrying to trick myself. But
yeah, I, I work from morning. Iwake up at seven.
Then as soon as the sunset, Ihave to stop because I'm not
(19:49):
getting the sunlight. So I, andthen that will actually ruin
whatever I'm doing because the,the colors are not the same with
artificial light. And then if Iwork with artificial light, then
I wake up in the morning andthen it's completely different.
It has no, no, Yeah. So, yeah, Iworked from, from seven till
(20:14):
four ish every day, Saturdays,Sundays.
Yeah. That's my life right now,but it's like, I always do that
whenever, whenever there is likesomething that's starting to be
stagnant. It's like, it's like,life is like really pushing me
to my limits so that I can likebirth something new. So I'm in
(20:40):
that process right now. I'm likein labor.
I'm in full blown labor, upuntil the March. And then again,
I have another show I'll beworking on, for August in New
York, which I'm really excitedabout. And, the upcoming one is
(21:02):
in April with the arc enemiesand Philadelphia, which I'm
super excited as well.
Rob Lee (21:07):
And we'll and we'll explore those a little bit
towards the the end so we can,you know, have folks know a bit
about the details, what haveyou. I got I got a couple more
questions before we we kindaclose out. Before we get to the
rapid fire part, I gotta get youat the rapid fire. But so I'm
I'm curious about this. I'vebeen doing this five five years
(21:28):
at this point, and I I hear thisthis running thing about what
support looks like.
And, you know, as far as beingan artist and I hear folks and
to a degree of what I do, I feelthat support is odd. Like, you
might have an event. You mighthave a live show. You might have
an opening or something alongthose lines. And support might
(21:50):
look like folks showing up andsay, hey.
You know, there's there'sRoxanne. Or, hey. You know,
there's there's Rob, what haveyou. Or sometimes just people
buying the work. But what doessupport look like?
You may be outside of money,maybe outside of patronage, but
deeper. What is rewarding interms of support as it relates
(22:10):
to your art career?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (22:12):
Oh my god.
Rob Lee (22:14):
I know. That's a that's a that's a deep one.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (22:16):
Yeah. Well, support. Well, as I mean,
the work has to, like, resonatewith someone. So that's number
one. So if I'm not actuallybeing authentic or truthful or
delivering something thatresonates with anyone, then I'm
(22:38):
not going to get the supportfrom anyone.
So that's number one. I thinkthat's where, there's no point
of doing it if you're notactually, authentic and
receiving something back. Evenif you're receiving hate, at
(22:59):
least you're receiving somethingyou're, you're creating
something, whatever you'rereflecting that people are
hating and they hate on you,you're actually moving energy
and you're doing something. So Ithink that would be that's my
answer. That would be my answer.
Rob Lee (23:19):
I think it's a good answer. So so thank you for that
because it's it's this thingwhere you're making work, no
one's talking about you, oryou're not finding your people
or whatever it is. It's like asyou touched on. It's like
getting hate, getting love. It'sa response.
That means at least it'sreaching people. The work is
reaching people and the otherthings that come from it, the
(23:40):
other types of support that thatpeople deem the value. What some
people might look at, the numberof clicks or the number of shows
or whatever it is.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (23:48):
Mhmm.
Rob Lee (23:49):
You know, but starting off with something authentic.
And as you were touching onearlier, you're exploring sort
of what's in your head, youknow, as far as the the
direction that you're going sothat must feel really, really
good when someone connects tothe work and they're like, yeah.
I like this and this or Yeah.That's good. So the market is
(24:13):
the other part of this this thisquestion.
So I think, like, you know, thethe art market, and that's,
again, you know, I'm I'm goingfrom conversations I've had with
folks of, man, I had a reallygreat 2023, '20 '20 '4 was not
as great or, you know, just sortof some of those shifts that
happen with, you know, uniquestyles and new unique voices.
(24:34):
And some people and folks I'veseen, I follow, you know, that
have been on a pod and you see,like, their work is drastically
different. And it's a responseto maybe some feedback that
they've gotten to maybe shift inthis direction. Or I've heard
other artists who are told theirwork isn't this enough, isn't
black enough to sell and so on.Could you talk about sort of
(24:57):
what your relationship is withmaybe the market and if it has
any impact on how you go aboutyour
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (25:04):
your work? About to rum it. I have so
much to say about this shit.
Rob Lee (25:08):
I love your face was changing the whole time. Like,
it was difficult, to let youfinish your question.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (25:16):
No. You there's no you this is a big
no. You cannot you cannotrespond to the market. People
first of all, people there ifthey knew what they wanted and
if they could create it, theywould. So you're there to just
do whatever you want.
You have to be absolutelyselfish in that you cannot look
(25:39):
outside of yourself. Like, Imean, yes, of course, like you
can look at other artists and ofcourse, but I mean, you should
never your art should never be aresponse to what you think
people might want because you'regoing to be wrong. You're going
to be wrong and everybody'sgoing to see and it's going to
reek of inauthenticity andpeople are not gonna buy. And
(26:00):
I've learned that the hard way,but trust, like, just you wanna
paint like a goddamn goldfish.Go ahead.
Do that. Like, just do whateverresonates with you. Somebody
will find you and be like, what?Me too. And then they'll buy.
So you cannot you cannot try andguess whatever what everybody is
(26:23):
thinking. This is like such atrap. Yeah. Don't yeah. It's a
big no no.
Rob Lee (26:31):
No. It's it's really good. It's really good because,
you know, you understand whatyou wanna make. You understand
sort of your taste or how youwanna go about it. But
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (26:40):
No. Not even you don't even I don't
understand my own taste,actually. I don't I don't know
exactly. Like, I'm justresponding to what what is
coming out, and I don't I trynot to judge it. So whatever
even if it's hard at times, I'mlike, oh, no one's gonna borrow.
Like, those pieces are normallythe ones that are are that sell.
(27:04):
The ones that you think no one'sgonna buy. So you really have to
stop like judging yourself andjust do the work and just let it
exist in the universe and don'ttry to control the reaction
people's reaction towards it.This is a lost, like, it's a,
(27:27):
like, losing game.
Rob Lee (27:29):
Yes. I see. I wanna It's a lost cause. It's a lost
cause to and, you know, I I andI'll add this before I move into
this this next question. Youknow, I did this I was teaching
last year.
I was teaching podcasting, whichyeah. I'm professor Rob now, so
that's that's
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm: really professor. (27:44):
undefined
Rob Lee (27:45):
And, but but teaching that and, you know, teaching
sort of young folks and peoplejust becoming aware of what
podcasting is. And, yeah, thesort of the advice I was sharing
because, you know, here arequestions of how do you monetize
this? How do you make money fromit? Do you make money from it?
It's like, do you have a podcastfirst?
Do you have something you'reinterested in talking about?
Yeah. Yeah. Sort of do you havea perspective? Like, it's akin
(28:09):
to what is your art about versusI don't have any art, but I
wanna know how to sell it beforeI have anything.
It's like Yeah.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (28:16):
You wanna make that You can be
gallerist then. You can be a artdealer. Like you can't because
then it's a trap. You're justgonna think about what people
want. For some people thatworks.
They're not attached to the workand they figured a formula out
that works. For me, it itabsolutely doesn't work. And
(28:38):
it's it's been like, actuallysuch a, like, it it made my my
career, like, I I could havepicked up way, way faster if I
knew that the freshest piece ofinformation. But now I know, and
I'm I'm glad I I'm here to sharewith with aspiring artists or
(28:58):
even working artists.
Rob Lee (29:00):
Thank you. Yeah. So I'm really insightful. And, you
know, I'm I guess I'm one ofthose peep well, I know that I'm
one of those people that I justwe're in I'm in The US. You're
you're in Canada.
I just came across your work.And I was like, she seems
interesting. I wanna talk toher. Now we're talking for a
second. So there you go.
And so this is sort of the nextto last question. And, again, in
(29:21):
sort of these these insights anddoing over 800 interviews, I I
find that connection is crucial.Like, you know, if we had, like,
a bad exchange or was a badinterview or if it's just
something that felt like a wasteof time, you wouldn't have said
yes or I wouldn't even reachedout or whatever it was. Right?
And I read that, you know, beingin community with artists, being
(29:43):
able to have a friend that's artor have or be around people who
are artists is is crucial interms of fellowships, in terms
of networking, in terms ofcommiserating, and building
relationships in our world canbe complex.
Have what have you learned aboutforging, like, those genuine
connections personally,professionally, as an artist?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (30:03):
Oh, boy. I don't really I'm I'm very
I'm very ex like, I can be veryextroverted. I can be, like, the
center of, like, the attentionin a room, but I'm also someone
who just disappears, and doesn'ttalk to anyone for, like, long
(30:27):
periods of time. So I don'treally have, like, what you're
you would describe it as, like,a art community. I have some
friends here and there that I'mclose to or not necessarily been
close to that are artists.
But I don't actually like go outto every opening. I don't try to
(30:48):
network. I, this is just not mystyle. I don't when I go after
things, it's like, it doesn'tpeople don't really respond very
well to that. I just have to letpeople come to me basically.
And, that works just better evenwith galleries. That's not for
everybody. So, But for me, like,galleries, if if they like the
(31:10):
work, they'll see me. And Itrust in that, and that's just
how it naturally happens. But assoon as I reach out and I'm
trying to it's like, it's notit's not right for my my energy,
and it just doesn't really workthat way for me.
Rob Lee (31:26):
That's that's that's a good that's a good distinction.
I've tried to do a bit more ofthat because I realized I can be
a bit sensitive to some of thethings that are around. It's
just people are kinda untied andstuff, and I try to limit my
exposure to it. And, you know,where I'm at, where I'm based,
it's not huge, but it's justlike, hey. I know you.
(31:47):
I could be in a room with, like,10 people. I'm a six foot four
dude with a beard. You've donean interview with me. You know
what I mean? And I can be in aroom and people act like they've
never met me before.
And it happens a lot. So insteadof having this weird perspective
that, okay. I guess you hate meor whatever the thing is, I just
(32:07):
try not to even sort of reachout. And even from the the work
perspective, I don't I don't andnot to brag, but it's like I
don't have any issues findingguests. Sometimes I'm kinda
turning folks away, not not outof, like, disinterest.
It's just more so I'm doing thisspecific thing right now.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (32:25):
Yeah. And that's the best problem you
can have. So yeah.
Rob Lee (32:29):
Yeah.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (32:29):
As soon as you can start saying no
to things when you're working ina creative field, this is when
you're like, okay. I've I'veI've prayed for that. And, like,
at some point in my life to beable to say no or not be able to
just have because you're justyou don't have time. So that's a
good thing.
Rob Lee (32:48):
Yeah. Alright. So, what I want to do next is go into
rapid fire, and then we canclose out on sort of some some
(33:09):
upcoming stuff or what have youin these these last moments. So
I got three I got three rapidfire questions for you.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (33:15):
Thank you.
Rob Lee (33:16):
You shouldn't be you're a pro at this. You're a veteran.
You've earned the badge. Sohere's the first one. What you
what is the what's a strange orunexpected compliment you've
received about your work?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (33:31):
I can't I can't answer this fast.
I have to like think so.
Rob Lee (33:35):
You got, you got rush here. It's just you're good.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (33:38):
Okay. Okay. Okay. You were saying
rapid fire question. Okay.
Strange. Okay. Yeah. I know. Mymom my mom is like, okay.
That's in French, but she wouldsay something like, And that
that basically means, oh, that'sthat's interesting.
Rob Lee (34:03):
A shit. What the hell? Like, what are you on?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (34:07):
And that's that's the cutest. So
that would be my mom. My momwent.
Rob Lee (34:14):
That's great. That's great.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (34:16):
Yeah.
Rob Lee (34:16):
What what you're doing so they're weird. Moms are good
for that because I'm Yeah. Youknow, I'm a weird I've done a
pod done podcasting for a longtime and Yeah. I remember when I
got this this tattoo, it's anoni. And my mom was like, that's
kinda interest.
Is that a devil? That'sinteresting. Oh, wow. You got
that on your arm. Oh.
Yeah.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (34:38):
I love it. We love mom.
Rob Lee (34:40):
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. This this one is and
this one is probably gonna be ashard or maybe easy because, you
know, you're painting, you know,some things.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (34:48):
Yeah.
Rob Lee (34:49):
If you could only paint with three colors for a year,
which are the three colorsyou're choosing?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (34:55):
Oh, that's so easy.
Rob Lee (34:56):
See?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm: Because because it's there's (34:57):
undefined
three primary colors. So Ichoose these three primary
colors, and then I can mix themand I can do any colors. But can
I mix them? Am I not not allowedto mix them? Because, like,
that's
Rob Lee (35:13):
You artists. Gosh. You always always like, I saw make
my own rules here. No. That'sfine.
That's a good point. That's agood point. Alright. So here
here's the last one. Here's thelast one for you.
And this one I'm really happyabout. If you suddenly became
allergic to making art, whatcareer would you jump into with
confidence?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (35:34):
Like, art as a visual arts or all
arts?
Rob Lee (35:37):
All art. Like, you can't do anything creative. None
of that. Like, yeah. I do thisside project.
It's like, no. You're allcreative talent is at you.
Sneeze, sneeze, sneeze.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (35:46):
Okay. Okay. Okay. I do something with
my hands. Like, I do likeconstruction work or something.
I don't know. I do somethingthat like, because this is also
like, you need to be creative tocome up with stuff, to build
stuff. So I I think I do thatand that's not considered art,
(36:09):
but maybe I'd get away with it.
Rob Lee (36:14):
I'm listening again with these rules. It's like,
yeah. I'll be a sort of anarchitect. That's like, moving
towards design. I see.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (36:21):
I'm I'm pretend to be a construction
worker. I could play the part.Okay.
Rob Lee (36:26):
Yeah. You you have a hoodie on currently, so that
makes sense.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (36:28):
Yeah. And I drive a truck. Yeah. I'm
Rob Lee (36:30):
just waiting for the hard hat to pop on. So so, you
know, I'd be remiss if I didn'tgive you sort of the space and
opportunity to share anydetails, of upcoming shows. This
is gonna be a March episode, so,you know, it'll be closer to,
you know, your April show. Sofeel free to share any details
that you have of what's comingup in 2025 and then we'll wrap
(36:51):
up.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (36:52):
Yeah. Okay. So there's, Arc Enemies,
in Philadelphia in on the April3. And I'm gonna be there. So if
you're in Philadelphia, you cancome say hi.
I'm I'm very nice. I say hi toeveryone. And, I take the time
to speak to everyone who whocomes and talks to me. Second
(37:15):
thing is that I'm actually,working on releasing a course
on, oil painting, portraitpainting. So I've been asked so
many times by so many people, ifI could do a class while it's
happening and I'm collaboratingwith, with, with someone well,
(37:41):
not someone, but, I mean, acompany that only deals with
that only does that.
So that will be available, earlyMay. So you'll get everything
from, like, how to mix colors tohow like, everything, how how I
prep my canvas, how I use mybrushes, how I direct photo
(38:02):
shoots, how I choose the photos.Like, it's literally from a from
a to z. So everything covered.So this, you will not wanna
miss.
And then I just, was talking tomy gallery in New York and we're
cooking something. I don't haveany dates or any details for
(38:23):
that, but this is gonna be NewYork, and it's gonna be end of
the summer. So I'll be there aswell. I love going to New York.
So yeah.
Rob Lee (38:33):
That is amazing. And con congratulations and
continued success.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (38:37):
Thank
Rob Lee (38:38):
you. And, what I would like to do in these final
moments is, thank you for comingon. And could you share with the
folks where they can stay up todate with all things you, social
media, website, all that goodstuff? The floor is yours.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (38:51):
Yeah. So, my social media, Roxy
Peroxide, Roxy with a y,Peroxide with a y. And, yeah,
that's pretty much it. Youshould get on my mailing list if
you want previews. You can DM DMme with your email, and I'll add
you.
I don't post very much onInstagram because my account has
(39:13):
been flagged. So yeah.Interestingly enough. So I'm
gonna try and start makingmoves, on different platforms
and build a solid mailing listwhere I'll this is what I'm
gonna be prior for Okay. MyEnglish and my my French Yes.
(39:36):
Thank you. So that's what I'mgonna be doing. But I'm always
on Instagram. But yeah. And Ianswer all my DMs unless they're
crazy.
So just to behave, I shouldanswer you.
Rob Lee (39:52):
And there you have it, folks. I wanna again thank Roxy
Peroxide for coming back ontothe podcast and catching up with
me. And for, Roxy Peroxide, I amRob Lee saying that there's art,
culture, and community in andaround your neck of the woods.
You've just gotta look for it.
Welcome back to the Truth in Us Art, your source for
conversations joining arts,culture, and community. These
are stories that matter, and Iam your host, Rob Lee. Thank you
so much for joining me. Today,my next guest is a self taught
artist from Montreal, Quebec,Canada, a painter known for her
highly photorealistic approachto depicting subjects that
(00:32):
reinterpret classical paintingsand motifs. Her work has been
exhibited and collectedinternationally, and we last
spoke in 2023.
And I'm really looking forwardto catching up and hearing what
she's been up to. Please welcomeback to the program, Roxie
Peroxide. Roxanne Sorio HelenHerm. Welcome back to the
podcast.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (00:52):
Thank you for having me.
Rob Lee (00:54):
Thank you for coming on. It's it's been, and thank
you thank you for coming backon. You know, like, it's it's
like when you have a class oryou do, like, a review or
something, you're like, I hopeeveryone likes me. I hope they
wanna come back. So being ableto have folks come back, it's
it's truly a a testament.
And, and then and over the youknow, looking at, you know, sort
(01:16):
of these interviews as we weretouching on a little bit before
we got started, I you and Ispoke back in 2023, and, you
know, it's been a lot that'shappened in the last few years.
So could you, if you will,reintroduce yourself to the
listeners who aren't, you know,familiar with who you are. And,
you know, could you share someof the biggest changes that have
taken place over the last coupleof years for you and your work?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (01:38):
Yeah. So I'm Roxanne Soriel, Roxie for
Roxanne for socials. I'm a selftaught painter. I started,
around when I was like 21 when Iwas in maternity leave. And, I
(02:01):
haven't stopped since.
And yeah, that's me. I don'tknow. Yeah. Next question was,
okay. What I've been up to, justright now, it's just constant
work.
But since 2023, I'm not sureexactly. I I've done a bunch of,
(02:26):
group shows, no solo shows yet,but two solo shows coming up,
this year.
Rob Lee (02:37):
K. Here here's the cool thing. Here's the cool thing you
just did right there.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (02:41):
What did I
Rob Lee (02:42):
You you answered one of my last questions, which is
great so I can, like, cut thatone off. So you you're making my
job easier. So so shout out toyou. Alright. So and thank you
for for catching up with usbecause, you know, you see
folks, they're they're doingstuff.
They're putting work out there,and we're gonna go a bit a bit
deeper in it. So I look at, youknow, shifts. And, you know, as
(03:06):
I was saying a bit earlier, Iwanted to kinda catch up with
folks and sort of a shift torevisiting things, something
that's that's been sitting therefor me and especially in, like,
exploring what I wanna do forfor this year and what I'm doing
in this interview as an example.So artistically or
professionally, what's shiftedfor you the most in, let's say,
(03:26):
the last year?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (03:28):
So I was, reaching a point where I
felt that I was, just repeatingmyself. So so as soon as this
happens, normally what what whatI do is just, try something
completely new or flip somethingor just try to think outside of
(03:52):
the box. So as some viewers oryou may know, I was, often,
reinterpreting like old oldmasters, works. But I realized
that this was like gettingreally, really limiting. And I
(04:13):
was basically I painted myselfin a corner basically by doing
that because as much as it wasinteresting for the time being,
there was only, like, the workthat that's known and that have
has already been done.
Like there's only so, so many ofthem. So I reached a point where
(04:34):
I just felt it was justrepeating itself constantly. And
I, I don't like that. So then,and then I realized after that
also that I was basically usingthat to validate, a narrative,
like, that wasn't necessarilymine, but that would be
(04:57):
validated within, like, societybecause those works already
exist. And by twisting them, I'madding my own little, grain of
salt, but or big grain of saltdepending on which ones.
But, then it just became thiswhole thing, like, a little bit
(05:17):
like making an excuse for notactually looking within and just
daring to just say what the fuckI wanna say. So sorry. Can I
swear?
Rob Lee (05:29):
You're good.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (05:29):
Okay. So then I just started, stepping
out of this completely, keepingthe same, like, the same,
subject, matter and format andcolors and all that is very
recognizable still. But oh, mycat jumped on my shoulder. And
(05:54):
and so, so I started just,talking more about myself and
just, yeah, just not, notbasically using things as a
crutch, or yeah.
Rob Lee (06:13):
So, so in it, you, in terms of like the shifting a
bit, you you wanted to be a abit more personal in the work
because you were seeing that youfelt like you were repeating
yourself and sort of the thetype of work that you were doing
or sort of the the subjectmatter you felt like you were
repeating and maybe adding thatthat grain? Yeah. It was small.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (06:34):
It was like a, like, it was like a,
like a sand box. You know, youplay within some limitations.
And then I reached a point whereI explored everything that was
to be explored within that thatsandbox. And then I got bored
with it, and I got and then Idecided that it was time for me
to, to just dare, just talkabout whatever comes to my mind
(07:00):
without, like, a point ofreference, which was basically
in that case, the old masters,works that I was referring to on
my paintings. So, yeah.
Rob Lee (07:12):
So you're, so you're moving to a different sandbox.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (07:14):
Yes. Not really because now it's
infinite sandbox. Cause now it'sjust me. It's just like whatever
my brain, it's my brain'slimitations now. So it, it, it's
sometimes a little bit, notscary, but sometimes you like,
it's the blank page, syndrome.
Okay.
Rob Lee (07:34):
No. No. That makes sense. I think when we we
started looking at our atourselves, like, I use use this
as sort of my reference point.This is my creative thing.
Right? And, you know, I'm nottrying to do the same thing that
other people are doing or tryingto do my version of it.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (07:51):
Mhmm.
Rob Lee (07:51):
But I find I found that some of the early interviews,
especially going back throughsome of these because some of
these interviews or some of theguests that I'm talking to
again, they were from early inthe show. I'm like, yo. I was
not a good interviewer then, orI didn't have any insight, or I
was trying to be like someoneelse and put my own play on it.
Now when I go through, I'm like,alright. I got some confidence
(08:12):
here.
It's a little scary because
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (08:14):
Yeah. Yeah. For sure.
Rob Lee (08:15):
Some of you creative types. Some of you you are is a
little little intimidating. I'mlooking at one right now. You
know, it's intimidating, youknow, with the punk background
and all.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (08:24):
Oh, what? Me? Yeah.
Rob Lee (08:30):
So and and and so and thank you for giving us that.
I'm gonna go a little bitdeeper. So what kind of work
excites you as, like, as anartist, but also as a viewer or
an appreciated appreciator ofart? What are the
characteristics and things ofthat nature? Like, And maybe how
have your your taste changed?
(08:51):
Like, talk about, you know, sortof what you like right now,
maybe what you like when youfirst got started. Like, what do
you look for creatively and asan as an artist and as a art
appreciator?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (09:01):
Yeah. I feel like there's a lot of,
and thankfully there's a lot ofweird shit coming out now. Like
there's so much weird shit andI'm, I'm so there for it. Like
there's this whole, new genre oflike paintings that look like,
(09:21):
video game, like from theFebruary. And they look like a
little bit, blurry kind of thepaint with the air airbrush, I
think.
And there's this whole genrethat is like, that is being born
right now. And I'm super excitedfor, for that because that's
(09:43):
basically the young people rightnow that are, like, that are
exploring and that are sayingwhatever is crossing their mind.
And they're unhinged. They'realso like, they don't have that.
I feel like they don't reallyhave that kind of, self they
(10:04):
don't self censor really.
They'd be it's like, they've gotrid of that already. The they're
not from like the generation ofpeople who just got on social
media, like the millennialsthey're the like gen Zs and even
younger than that. And theyjust, they, they don't care what
you think. They just, they'rejust there for their own art,
(10:25):
and the more original, thebetter. And I I'm just really,
really excited for for that.
Actually, this is what I'm I'mreally looking at right now, and
I'm always, impressed and just,that very, very, very inspiring,
and I can't wait to to see moreof that.
Rob Lee (10:44):
I'm hearing the the weirder things. I'm hearing sort
of that Oh, yeah. Thatunapologetic pursuit to create.
You know, it's like, this iswhat I wanna make. I don't care
what you want.
This is what I'm making. This iswhat my art is right now.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (10:58):
Yeah. They'll just, like, paint, like,
a random cat, like, if, like, ina corner with a in a bathtub.
Like, it's just it's become,it's becoming like whatever it's
becoming everything and nothing,but everything at the same time.
And it's just such like, it'svery, internet culture moment.
So I'm, I'm here for it.
(11:20):
I like it.
Rob Lee (11:21):
I love that. Yeah. Like painting sort of what you know,
or or creating, you know, makingart around what that experience
is. And it's it's like I may dosomething completely different,
but right now, I'm gonna, like,paint this cat right here.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (11:36):
Yeah. And yeah, they don't explain
themselves either, which I, Ilove. I, I like, I've never
actually explained myself. Thisis unless you're at a show,
you're talking to me directlyand you're near asking me a
question, then I might explainto you what, what I mean in a
specific painting. But otherwiseI find it so much more
(11:57):
interesting to know what theviewer is thinking.
Cause I already knew what I'mthinking And the the art is not
there for me to tell you what tothink. It's there for you to
experience and make whatever youwant from it.
Rob Lee (12:09):
I and I think when you're when the viewer is
allowed to just kinda cook andkinda just be with it, that's
where you actually havediscourse and you have people
saying, oh, well, I saw thishere or, well, I saw that or did
you see this part? And but ifsomeone like your yourself or
someone the the artist, theperson making it saying, this is
(12:30):
exactly what it is, it cuts thatconversation short.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (12:33):
Yeah. And there's no room to oh, well
and also, like, people thinkabout stuff that I've never even
thought of before. And I'm like,what? Oh, maybe that that's
subconsciously, I did that. Imean, thank you.
You were letting me know. Like,it's I the less I say, the the
more I I can receive, basically.
Rob Lee (12:54):
Yeah. And and I and I love being able to talk with,
like, creative folks, withartists because I'm always
learning something new. And whensomeone is, like, listens to
this podcast, even before theycome home, if they listen to the
podcast and they tell me thatyou remind me of this, you
remind me of that. I'm like, oh,that's not even an influence.
(13:15):
Something else for me to checkout and maybe learn from or
something else to add to myconsumption.
You know what I mean?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (13:22):
Yeah.
Rob Lee (13:23):
So I have this question about rebellion, you know,
rebelling against the system.And sometimes the systems are,
like, self imposed. Right? So,like, I I find that some artists
and I think you you touched onthis a bit earlier, but I think
some artists practice rebellingrebelling against themselves,
the artists that maybe they usedto be, the work that they used
(13:43):
to make. Is that something thatyou overtly, like, practice?
It's like, nah. I gotta just getpast this. And I say that
because I'm listening to, one ofmy favorite one of my favorite
musicians is is The Weeknd and,you know, fellow Aquarius as
well. So I got it. And he's acomedian.
(14:03):
Right? And and I'd listened tothis interview, and he was
talking about he needed to killthe idea of The Weeknd, and
maybe he'll continue it, but,also, he feels like he wants to
make music as himself. Maybethat's a genre change. He's
rebelling against what's beensuccessful, creative. Is that
something that that you thinkabout in terms of sort of that
(14:25):
that sandbox conversation wewere having earlier?
Or Absolutely.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (14:28):
Well, it's not even that I think about
it. It's just it's, in mynature. I just always rebel
against whatever I'm starting tofeel comfortable in. And to come
back to what you were sayingabout the weekend, it's, there's
(14:49):
a term in, with, with, withauthors that they're using and
it's, it says, I think, Ibelieve that it's, it's called
kill to kill your darlings. Andthat's basically just kill, kill
the, kill the thing you lovemost so that it's something you
(15:10):
can be reborn or, yeah.
And when you're exploitingsomething too much or a
character too much, it's time tokill the character and to like
start new or introduce somethingelse. I believe that this is
absolutely key, at least for my,for my practice, for my
(15:33):
practice. I, I don't see myself,or I don't want to see myself
repeating myself and doing thesame thing over and over again.
Rob Lee (15:42):
That's good. I, you know, I had to really go through
and listen to and review thequestions from the previous
interviews to make sure I'm notasking the same question again
because I was like, no. I don'tknow. But
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (15:52):
I would probably not have the same
answer anyway.
Rob Lee (15:56):
But I just I just think it's Goshen. So so with it, it's
the I I recently got from afriend. It it was shipped to me.
It was like a late, like,birthday present or have you. It
was a, George Carlin book, thethe comedian.
And I I remember reading overhis background and one of the
things and, I think still likean artist that he would do was
(16:18):
he would take his jokes and hewould get rid of his joke book
each year. It's like, this isthe material that I've done. Now
it's gone. You know, after I'vedone it, not to, you know, or
after he's done it not to kindadive back in. Maybe you'll
arrive to a same insight orobservation, but you're gonna do
something different.
And I I find that reallyinteresting, and I applied that
(16:40):
to when I write questions, I tryto have, like, a long list of
questions, and I try tocategorize them of this could be
an interesting insight. But I'malways changing that process. I
used to have a just set list ofquestions, and you would see
some recycled and some tweaked.But I'm always tweaking and and
rerefining the process, whetherit be how I go about
(17:03):
preproduction, how I go aboutdoing an interview, how I even,
you know, you know, roll out aninterview. Are you with sort of
like, are you changing ordisrupting your process maybe to
find something new within your,your, your art process?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (17:20):
Yeah. Like recently I changed, I'm
starting to paint on lineninstead of canvas. And it's
actually a big shift in the,like the way that the, the linen
absorbs the paint is completelydifferent and it creates, it's
just so much better. And I wasterrified of using it because
(17:44):
imposter syndrome, I don't know.And I was like, this is like
more expensive.
This is really worth it. Like,what am I doing? Is it, is there
really a change? And now I, Ijust can't go back. So I've done
that as well.
When I, I started painting withoils, I was painting like for
ten or twelve years withacrylics and then I wasn't
getting any better and I wasn'treally improving. And I was
(18:06):
like, this time it's time for meto change something. Cause I'm,
I'm getting bored and I notactually improving anything. So
I got to switch things up. Andthis is when I moved from
acrylics to oils, It was a bitof a transition period where
like, I have to actually learnhow to use just the medium, just
the way that the paint spread iscompletely different.
(18:30):
Not to get it into my face asmuch or, you know, so, so, yeah,
I always try to to keep movingwhenever I feel, some sort of
stagnant, energy, creeping in.
Rob Lee (18:47):
How how often are you painting these days? Is it,
like, a notice noticeable, like,uptick now that you're, like, a
a lot busier? Is it sort of,like, pretty static that, yeah,
I'm gonna do, you you know, acertain number in a course of a
day or in a week, a number ofhours that you're working on, or
is it project or I don't.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (19:06):
I'm like super, super, super busy
right now. I'm actually working.I've been working seven days a
week for the past month and ahalf or two months ever, like
ever since Christmas, even onChristmas, I was working. But
anyways, so yeah, I've beenworking nonstop, Sundays. These
(19:28):
days I've been shootingreference photos.
So that's like my day off, butthat's not really a day off. I'm
actually working. I'm justtrying to trick myself. But
yeah, I, I work from morning. Iwake up at seven.
Then as soon as the sunset, Ihave to stop because I'm not
(19:49):
getting the sunlight. So I, andthen that will actually ruin
whatever I'm doing because the,the colors are not the same with
artificial light. And then if Iwork with artificial light, then
I wake up in the morning andthen it's completely different.
It has no, no, Yeah. So, yeah, Iworked from, from seven till
(20:14):
four ish every day, Saturdays,Sundays.
Yeah. That's my life right now,but it's like, I always do that
whenever, whenever there is likesomething that's starting to be
stagnant. It's like, it's like,life is like really pushing me
to my limits so that I can likebirth something new. So I'm in
(20:40):
that process right now. I'm likein labor.
I'm in full blown labor, upuntil the March. And then again,
I have another show I'll beworking on, for August in New
York, which I'm really excitedabout. And, the upcoming one is
(21:02):
in April with the arc enemiesand Philadelphia, which I'm
super excited as well.
Rob Lee (21:07):
And we'll and we'll explore those a little bit
towards the the end so we can,you know, have folks know a bit
about the details, what haveyou. I got I got a couple more
questions before we we kindaclose out. Before we get to the
rapid fire part, I gotta get youat the rapid fire. But so I'm
I'm curious about this. I'vebeen doing this five five years
(21:28):
at this point, and I I hear thisthis running thing about what
support looks like.
And, you know, as far as beingan artist and I hear folks and
to a degree of what I do, I feelthat support is odd. Like, you
might have an event. You mighthave a live show. You might have
an opening or something alongthose lines. And support might
(21:50):
look like folks showing up andsay, hey.
You know, there's there'sRoxanne. Or, hey. You know,
there's there's Rob, what haveyou. Or sometimes just people
buying the work. But what doessupport look like?
You may be outside of money,maybe outside of patronage, but
deeper. What is rewarding interms of support as it relates
(22:10):
to your art career?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (22:12):
Oh my god.
Rob Lee (22:14):
I know. That's a that's a that's a deep one.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (22:16):
Yeah. Well, support. Well, as I mean,
the work has to, like, resonatewith someone. So that's number
one. So if I'm not actuallybeing authentic or truthful or
delivering something thatresonates with anyone, then I'm
(22:38):
not going to get the supportfrom anyone.
So that's number one. I thinkthat's where, there's no point
of doing it if you're notactually, authentic and
receiving something back. Evenif you're receiving hate, at
(22:59):
least you're receiving somethingyou're, you're creating
something, whatever you'rereflecting that people are
hating and they hate on you,you're actually moving energy
and you're doing something. So Ithink that would be that's my
answer. That would be my answer.
Rob Lee (23:19):
I think it's a good answer. So so thank you for that
because it's it's this thingwhere you're making work, no
one's talking about you, oryou're not finding your people
or whatever it is. It's like asyou touched on. It's like
getting hate, getting love. It'sa response.
That means at least it'sreaching people. The work is
reaching people and the otherthings that come from it, the
(23:40):
other types of support that thatpeople deem the value. What some
people might look at, the numberof clicks or the number of shows
or whatever it is.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (23:48):
Mhmm.
Rob Lee (23:49):
You know, but starting off with something authentic.
And as you were touching onearlier, you're exploring sort
of what's in your head, youknow, as far as the the
direction that you're going sothat must feel really, really
good when someone connects tothe work and they're like, yeah.
I like this and this or Yeah.That's good. So the market is
(24:13):
the other part of this this thisquestion.
So I think, like, you know, thethe art market, and that's,
again, you know, I'm I'm goingfrom conversations I've had with
folks of, man, I had a reallygreat 2023, '20 '20 '4 was not
as great or, you know, just sortof some of those shifts that
happen with, you know, uniquestyles and new unique voices.
(24:34):
And some people and folks I'veseen, I follow, you know, that
have been on a pod and you see,like, their work is drastically
different. And it's a responseto maybe some feedback that
they've gotten to maybe shift inthis direction. Or I've heard
other artists who are told theirwork isn't this enough, isn't
black enough to sell and so on.Could you talk about sort of
(24:57):
what your relationship is withmaybe the market and if it has
any impact on how you go aboutyour
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (25:04):
your work? About to rum it. I have so
much to say about this shit.
Rob Lee (25:08):
I love your face was changing the whole time. Like,
it was difficult, to let youfinish your question.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (25:16):
No. You there's no you this is a big
no. You cannot you cannotrespond to the market. People
first of all, people there ifthey knew what they wanted and
if they could create it, theywould. So you're there to just
do whatever you want.
You have to be absolutelyselfish in that you cannot look
(25:39):
outside of yourself. Like, Imean, yes, of course, like you
can look at other artists and ofcourse, but I mean, you should
never your art should never be aresponse to what you think
people might want because you'regoing to be wrong. You're going
to be wrong and everybody'sgoing to see and it's going to
reek of inauthenticity andpeople are not gonna buy. And
(26:00):
I've learned that the hard way,but trust, like, just you wanna
paint like a goddamn goldfish.Go ahead.
Do that. Like, just do whateverresonates with you. Somebody
will find you and be like, what?Me too. And then they'll buy.
So you cannot you cannot try andguess whatever what everybody is
(26:23):
thinking. This is like such atrap. Yeah. Don't yeah. It's a
big no no.
Rob Lee (26:31):
No. It's it's really good. It's really good because,
you know, you understand whatyou wanna make. You understand
sort of your taste or how youwanna go about it. But
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (26:40):
No. Not even you don't even I don't
understand my own taste,actually. I don't I don't know
exactly. Like, I'm justresponding to what what is
coming out, and I don't I trynot to judge it. So whatever
even if it's hard at times, I'mlike, oh, no one's gonna borrow.
Like, those pieces are normallythe ones that are are that sell.
(27:04):
The ones that you think no one'sgonna buy. So you really have to
stop like judging yourself andjust do the work and just let it
exist in the universe and don'ttry to control the reaction
people's reaction towards it.This is a lost, like, it's a,
(27:27):
like, losing game.
Rob Lee (27:29):
Yes. I see. I wanna It's a lost cause. It's a lost
cause to and, you know, I I andI'll add this before I move into
this this next question. Youknow, I did this I was teaching
last year.
I was teaching podcasting, whichyeah. I'm professor Rob now, so
that's that's
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm: really professor. (27:44):
undefined
Rob Lee (27:45):
And, but but teaching that and, you know, teaching
sort of young folks and peoplejust becoming aware of what
podcasting is. And, yeah, thesort of the advice I was sharing
because, you know, here arequestions of how do you monetize
this? How do you make money fromit? Do you make money from it?
It's like, do you have a podcastfirst?
Do you have something you'reinterested in talking about?
Yeah. Yeah. Sort of do you havea perspective? Like, it's akin
(28:09):
to what is your art about versusI don't have any art, but I
wanna know how to sell it beforeI have anything.
It's like Yeah.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (28:16):
You wanna make that You can be
gallerist then. You can be a artdealer. Like you can't because
then it's a trap. You're justgonna think about what people
want. For some people thatworks.
They're not attached to the workand they figured a formula out
that works. For me, it itabsolutely doesn't work. And
(28:38):
it's it's been like, actuallysuch a, like, it it made my my
career, like, I I could havepicked up way, way faster if I
knew that the freshest piece ofinformation. But now I know, and
I'm I'm glad I I'm here to sharewith with aspiring artists or
(28:58):
even working artists.
Rob Lee (29:00):
Thank you. Yeah. So I'm really insightful. And, you
know, I'm I guess I'm one ofthose peep well, I know that I'm
one of those people that I justwe're in I'm in The US. You're
you're in Canada.
I just came across your work.And I was like, she seems
interesting. I wanna talk toher. Now we're talking for a
second. So there you go.
And so this is sort of the nextto last question. And, again, in
(29:21):
sort of these these insights anddoing over 800 interviews, I I
find that connection is crucial.Like, you know, if we had, like,
a bad exchange or was a badinterview or if it's just
something that felt like a wasteof time, you wouldn't have said
yes or I wouldn't even reachedout or whatever it was. Right?
And I read that, you know, beingin community with artists, being
(29:43):
able to have a friend that's artor have or be around people who
are artists is is crucial interms of fellowships, in terms
of networking, in terms ofcommiserating, and building
relationships in our world canbe complex.
Have what have you learned aboutforging, like, those genuine
connections personally,professionally, as an artist?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (30:03):
Oh, boy. I don't really I'm I'm very
I'm very ex like, I can be veryextroverted. I can be, like, the
center of, like, the attentionin a room, but I'm also someone
who just disappears, and doesn'ttalk to anyone for, like, long
(30:27):
periods of time. So I don'treally have, like, what you're
you would describe it as, like,a art community. I have some
friends here and there that I'mclose to or not necessarily been
close to that are artists.
But I don't actually like go outto every opening. I don't try to
(30:48):
network. I, this is just not mystyle. I don't when I go after
things, it's like, it doesn'tpeople don't really respond very
well to that. I just have to letpeople come to me basically.
And, that works just better evenwith galleries. That's not for
everybody. So, But for me, like,galleries, if if they like the
(31:10):
work, they'll see me. And Itrust in that, and that's just
how it naturally happens. But assoon as I reach out and I'm
trying to it's like, it's notit's not right for my my energy,
and it just doesn't really workthat way for me.
Rob Lee (31:26):
That's that's that's a good that's a good distinction.
I've tried to do a bit more ofthat because I realized I can be
a bit sensitive to some of thethings that are around. It's
just people are kinda untied andstuff, and I try to limit my
exposure to it. And, you know,where I'm at, where I'm based,
it's not huge, but it's justlike, hey. I know you.
(31:47):
I could be in a room with, like,10 people. I'm a six foot four
dude with a beard. You've donean interview with me. You know
what I mean? And I can be in aroom and people act like they've
never met me before.
And it happens a lot. So insteadof having this weird perspective
that, okay. I guess you hate meor whatever the thing is, I just
(32:07):
try not to even sort of reachout. And even from the the work
perspective, I don't I don't andnot to brag, but it's like I
don't have any issues findingguests. Sometimes I'm kinda
turning folks away, not not outof, like, disinterest.
It's just more so I'm doing thisspecific thing right now.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (32:25):
Yeah. And that's the best problem you
can have. So yeah.
Rob Lee (32:29):
Yeah.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (32:29):
As soon as you can start saying no
to things when you're working ina creative field, this is when
you're like, okay. I've I'veI've prayed for that. And, like,
at some point in my life to beable to say no or not be able to
just have because you're justyou don't have time. So that's a
good thing.
Rob Lee (32:48):
Yeah. Alright. So, what I want to do next is go into
rapid fire, and then we canclose out on sort of some some
(33:09):
upcoming stuff or what have youin these these last moments. So
I got three I got three rapidfire questions for you.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (33:15):
Thank you.
Rob Lee (33:16):
You shouldn't be you're a pro at this. You're a veteran.
You've earned the badge. Sohere's the first one. What you
what is the what's a strange orunexpected compliment you've
received about your work?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (33:31):
I can't I can't answer this fast.
I have to like think so.
Rob Lee (33:35):
You got, you got rush here. It's just you're good.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (33:38):
Okay. Okay. Okay. You were saying
rapid fire question. Okay.
Strange. Okay. Yeah. I know. Mymom my mom is like, okay.
That's in French, but she wouldsay something like, And that
that basically means, oh, that'sthat's interesting.
Rob Lee (34:03):
A shit. What the hell? Like, what are you on?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (34:07):
And that's that's the cutest. So
that would be my mom. My momwent.
Rob Lee (34:14):
That's great. That's great.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (34:16):
Yeah.
Rob Lee (34:16):
What what you're doing so they're weird. Moms are good
for that because I'm Yeah. Youknow, I'm a weird I've done a
pod done podcasting for a longtime and Yeah. I remember when I
got this this tattoo, it's anoni. And my mom was like, that's
kinda interest.
Is that a devil? That'sinteresting. Oh, wow. You got
that on your arm. Oh.
Yeah.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (34:38):
I love it. We love mom.
Rob Lee (34:40):
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Alright. This this one is and
this one is probably gonna be ashard or maybe easy because, you
know, you're painting, you know,some things.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (34:48):
Yeah.
Rob Lee (34:49):
If you could only paint with three colors for a year,
which are the three colorsyou're choosing?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (34:55):
Oh, that's so easy.
Rob Lee (34:56):
See?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm: Because because it's there's (34:57):
undefined
three primary colors. So Ichoose these three primary
colors, and then I can mix themand I can do any colors. But can
I mix them? Am I not not allowedto mix them? Because, like,
that's
Rob Lee (35:13):
You artists. Gosh. You always always like, I saw make
my own rules here. No. That'sfine.
That's a good point. That's agood point. Alright. So here
here's the last one. Here's thelast one for you.
And this one I'm really happyabout. If you suddenly became
allergic to making art, whatcareer would you jump into with
confidence?
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (35:34):
Like, art as a visual arts or all
arts?
Rob Lee (35:37):
All art. Like, you can't do anything creative. None
of that. Like, yeah. I do thisside project.
It's like, no. You're allcreative talent is at you.
Sneeze, sneeze, sneeze.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (35:46):
Okay. Okay. Okay. I do something with
my hands. Like, I do likeconstruction work or something.
I don't know. I do somethingthat like, because this is also
like, you need to be creative tocome up with stuff, to build
stuff. So I I think I do thatand that's not considered art,
(36:09):
but maybe I'd get away with it.
Rob Lee (36:14):
I'm listening again with these rules. It's like,
yeah. I'll be a sort of anarchitect. That's like, moving
towards design. I see.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (36:21):
I'm I'm pretend to be a construction
worker. I could play the part.Okay.
Rob Lee (36:26):
Yeah. You you have a hoodie on currently, so that
makes sense.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (36:28):
Yeah. And I drive a truck. Yeah. I'm
Rob Lee (36:30):
just waiting for the hard hat to pop on. So so, you
know, I'd be remiss if I didn'tgive you sort of the space and
opportunity to share anydetails, of upcoming shows. This
is gonna be a March episode, so,you know, it'll be closer to,
you know, your April show. Sofeel free to share any details
that you have of what's comingup in 2025 and then we'll wrap
(36:51):
up.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (36:52):
Yeah. Okay. So there's, Arc Enemies,
in Philadelphia in on the April3. And I'm gonna be there. So if
you're in Philadelphia, you cancome say hi.
I'm I'm very nice. I say hi toeveryone. And, I take the time
to speak to everyone who whocomes and talks to me. Second
(37:15):
thing is that I'm actually,working on releasing a course
on, oil painting, portraitpainting. So I've been asked so
many times by so many people, ifI could do a class while it's
happening and I'm collaboratingwith, with, with someone well,
(37:41):
not someone, but, I mean, acompany that only deals with
that only does that.
So that will be available, earlyMay. So you'll get everything
from, like, how to mix colors tohow like, everything, how how I
prep my canvas, how I use mybrushes, how I direct photo
(38:02):
shoots, how I choose the photos.Like, it's literally from a from
a to z. So everything covered.So this, you will not wanna
miss.
And then I just, was talking tomy gallery in New York and we're
cooking something. I don't haveany dates or any details for
(38:23):
that, but this is gonna be NewYork, and it's gonna be end of
the summer. So I'll be there aswell. I love going to New York.
So yeah.
Rob Lee (38:33):
That is amazing. And con congratulations and
continued success.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (38:37):
Thank
Rob Lee (38:38):
you. And, what I would like to do in these final
moments is, thank you for comingon. And could you share with the
folks where they can stay up todate with all things you, social
media, website, all that goodstuff? The floor is yours.
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm (38:51):
Yeah. So, my social media, Roxy
Peroxide, Roxy with a y,Peroxide with a y. And, yeah,
that's pretty much it. Youshould get on my mailing list if
you want previews. You can DM DMme with your email, and I'll add
you.
I don't post very much onInstagram because my account has
(39:13):
been flagged. So yeah.Interestingly enough. So I'm
gonna try and start makingmoves, on different platforms
and build a solid mailing listwhere I'll this is what I'm
gonna be prior for Okay. MyEnglish and my my French Yes.
(39:36):
Thank you. So that's what I'mgonna be doing. But I'm always
on Instagram. But yeah. And Ianswer all my DMs unless they're
crazy.
So just to behave, I shouldanswer you.
Rob Lee (39:52):
And there you have it, folks. I wanna again thank Roxy
Peroxide for coming back ontothe podcast and catching up with
me. And for, Roxy Peroxide, I amRob Lee saying that there's art,
culture, and community in andaround your neck of the woods.
You've just gotta look for it.
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