Tala Rae Schlossberg is an animator and video producer based in Brooklyn, New York. Her experimental video work focuses on the intersection of the physical and the digital, with an emphasis on capturing the beauty in the mundane. Schlossberg’s commercial and editorial work includes narrative shorts, experimental videos and data visualizations for clients including Patagonia, Planned Parenthood, MoMA, The Nature Conservancy and the New York Times, where she previously worked as an animator and video producer for the newspaper’s Opinion Video section. In 2022, Schlossberg co-founded the woman-owned studio Two Toes Creative, which strives to embrace the absurd and wonderfully unexplainable parts of human existence. Schlossberg experiments in a wide variety of mediums – she regularly scores her visual work with original compositions, produces an independent magazine called “The Eliditarian” and is currently working on a collection of short fiction.

How are you feeling today?

How would you introduce yourself to someone who doesn’t know you at all? 

I always have a hard time with this (describing myself) because I’m not really entirely sure what I am like to someone who isn’t me. I’ve noticed myself compulsively telling new people that I am an artist lately – I think there is a kind of excitement around that title because I went so long in my life feeling like it didn’t belong to me. And it also strikes me as completely ridiculous whenever I introduce myself that way. Yes, I am an artist and an animator and writer and a thinker but mostly I am just a human trying to make sense of the wild journey of being alive. 

What's a typical day like for you in Brooklyn? Do you have any rituals or routines that help fuel your creativity?

I’ve always wanted to be the kind of person with a routine but I’ve recently given that up (wanting to be the kind of person with a routine, not the attempt at the routine). I still try to impose some order in my day to day but give myself a lot of grace on the days that I lose my afternoon to an unexpected rabbit hole. That being said, I have realized that my two most energetic times of day are 10am and 10pm. I try to complete everything I need to do (e-mails, meetings, execution work, meals, exercise) at other times of the day in order to keep my best brain space free for open ended creative time. A perfect day for me starts with a coffee in the sun and a blank notebook page. I like to start my mornings by writing – I find that words are my most authentic creative medium and a practice that keeps me centered. 

Can you tell us a bit about your journey into art? How does the creative process work for you?

At its core, art for me is a way of understanding the world. I learn by creating. I’ve always liked making things – I have a book of poems from when I was 5, several original plays, and uncountably many songs. I love animation because it lets me combine a lot of different mediums into one output. I get to write, direct, sound design, draw and edit. I got into animation after taking an “Intro to After Effects” summer course in college. I had never put so much effort into a class in my life – I think I barely slept that month, I was so excited to keep working on my projects. Suddenly, I had acquired a skill that I realized there was a lot of demand for. I started getting asked to do freelance animation projects and I think it was around then that I understood that I could build a life for myself where I got to stay in that excited exploratory state. I love animation, but really it is just the glue that enables me to live a creative life. 

The creative process is something that I will be learning about for my whole life. I know so much more about my own creative process than I did even a week ago, and still it is such a mystery. To put things out into the world that didn’t exist before is a kind of strange alchemy. It’s what keeps me endlessly curious at the end of the day- the question of where it all comes from.

(Left) “Dreamscape” (Right) “Migrations”

You’ve worked with some amazing clients like Patagonia, the New York Times and MoMA. How do you balance your artistic vision with the needs and expectations of such diverse clients?

I’ve realized that I need a pretty precise balance of client and personal work in my life to keep me feeling creatively fulfilled. The client work is fun because it feels like a little creative challenge each time – someone gives you a set of constraints (time, aesthetics, money, script) and says go. Client projects feel like exercises in pushing my brain and my style. But I need to have my own projects going on to feel like I am progressing as an artist. My most interesting and enjoyable work comes when I’m working forward from a question instead of backwards from a desired output.

Your work feels like both old and new, blending analog and digital processes while embracing mistakes. What was the breakthrough moment or an unforgettable mistake in your career path?

I guess I don’t fully believe in mistakes, because really mistakes are just lessons. All of the things I’ve messed up in my life have taught me invaluable things that I needed to know. It’s what makes the pieces fit so nicely together. I would say the first breakthrough moment for me in my career was getting a job making animated videos for The New York Times right after I graduated college. There was no part of me that thought I could actually land that job, but I knew I would be good at it. The application was due 3 days from when I found the listing, and I spent that time making a cover letter that was a rhyming animated video. I later found out that they played that video at a huge internal team meeting which is so embarrassing to think about, but I got the job. It’s still the only “real” job I’ve ever gotten. I’ve been rejected from most other things I’ve ever applied for, and I am completely at peace with it because I love where I ended up. The blocks are what make you get creative about things. There is always a way forward.

(Left) “Ball” (Right) “Paper Planes”

What do you hope people think or feel when they look at your art?

I hope that my work helps people see the strange and absurd beauty that is around us all the time. I want to create work that makes people feel a little bit more alive. That’s what making art does for me. 

Lastly, what's next on your creative horizon? Any new projects or themes you're currently diving into?

I’m feeling a lot of energy towards non-digital mediums right now. I am looking to compile my writing into a collection, potentially a book at some point. I also have a lot of excitement towards creating spaces for communal armaking. I run a creative studio, Two Toes with my best friend Kika Macfarlane and we have started leading creative retreats, which are unbelievably special. We are also opening a physical studio in Brooklyn this year which is an exciting new way for us to keep building a creative community through events and workshops. 

The big word in my life right now is connectedness. All of the things I am excited about at the moment have something to do with that theme – using art and creativity to make meaningful connections.