AMANDA SNOW ROBERTS
Five Questions with First Time Collectors
Meet Amanda Snow Roberts
Amanda (b. 1998) is a communications consultant and curator based in London, but born in New York City. Amanda is studying for her master’s degree in curating at Goldsmiths University and in her free time enjoys discovering emerging artists, attending gallery openings, and writing her art newsletter. You can most likely find her perched with an oat flat white at Chiltern Firehouse many days of the week. Her undergraduate thesis at St. Andrews was written on Transgressive Representations of Breastfeeding in Contemporary Art. Her curatorial practice focuses on themes of motherhood, memory, identity, sexuality, and intimacy. Here is are five questions diving into her emerging artist collection and advice for fellow young collectors.
Q: What is your favorite work in your flat?
A: My favorite piece in my home is a work by a young British artist named Nathalie Hollis. I first saw her work at Incubator Gallery on Chiltern Street. I was immediately drawn to her ambiguous, abstract representations of figures in motion and color palette (anyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with pinks and reds!) I love how the actions of the figures represented in her works could either be in conflict or in love. To get the work - I direct messaged her on Instagram and she invited me to her studio, which was amazing. I picked this work titled Haunt (2021) because I was drawn to the configuration of bodies in the art specifically and how you cannot decipher where one body begins and one ends. Everyone sees a different figuration of individuals in it and tries to decipher what is going on - which makes for an excellent talking piece in my living room. Nathalie watches video of boxers fighting, but also dancers and their movement when creating.
Q: What are your favorite resources or places to look at or find art?
A: One best of the best sources is Instagram - I follow as many artists as I can. I always save the works and save them to my Instagram of works that I love and artists I would like to meet, mainly of whom are young and emerging artists. I am signed up for all the gallery newsletters. I recommend any time you come across a gallery that you love, go online and sign up for their newsletter - it’s free and easy. I also recently started a newsletter of curated gallery recommendations in London called The Art List. It sends out emails with information every other week with upcoming shows and recommendations for coffees and drinks in nearby London locations.
Next Up Collector Tip: Become a member for free resources for locating galleries and exhibitions!
Image to the Right: A black and white photograph by French artists Calmen & Bech from a trio titled, A La Folie (2007-2008). The work came from Kensington-based gallery called HackelBury Fine Art.
Q: How did you first get started with collecting artists or becoming more aware of the art community?
A: The first piece I bought myself was a Bryan Liston photograph that I found and bought on Instagram. I got it off of a gallery doing a special sale of prints. When I moved to London full-time in 2021 to study my master’s degree in Curating at Goldsmiths University, I started connecting with artists whose work I saw at exhibitions and shows across the city.
Image to the Left: Black and white photograph is by Bryan Liston. Amanda bought it in early 2020 on Instagram through a special sale a gallery was doing.
Q: Who are the future artists you would hope to add to your collection in the next ten years?
A: I would like to add Zoe Buckman, Marilyn Minter, and Tracey Emin. I am really drawn to works that depict the human form or body in interesting and unexpected ways.
Amanda’s Book Recommendations: Designing Motherhood by Amber Winick and Michelle Millar Fisher and For Arts Sake: Inside the Home of Art Dealers by Tiqui Atencio Demirdijan.
Image to the Right: This work is in Amanda’s entrance and is a small, framed Tracey Emin postcard. This one is really sentimental to her because it’s from a pop-up show that she collaborated on with Tracey’s studio at Shreeji Newsstand in Marylebone on Chiltern Street during Frieze Week 2021.
Q: What advice do you have for young professionals without an art background, if they may want to become more involved in collecting in the future?
A: Attend gallery openings, follow artists on Instagram and don’t be afraid to message them (emerging artists love being connecting people from my experience!), and visit art fairs. A lot of emerging artists show at fairs, it is a great way to see a lot of art at once.
Image to the Left: In my kitchen, Amanda has a selection of fun plates on the wall inspired by the crazy plate wall at Saint Ambrose in Soho, New York City, where she grew up. The plates are Fornasetti she picked up at Liberty, her favorite spot for home interior items. The others are from a small studio based in Morocco, and she has a couple others she rotates through.
