The Things We Use to Make the Things We Must
The Things We Use to Make the Things We Must is an installation by Leah Rosenberg that reflects on the impulse — or imperative — of artists to reimagine the everyday as the extraordinary. The installation borrows inspiration and objects from SFMOMA’s Artist Materials Collection, an archive compiled by the Conservation Department to document and preserve artists’ processes. A color legend referencing common materials, such as pencils, tape, and tennis balls, explodes across the walls, while a display of materials peels back the multifold meaning behind each color. Rosenberg invites visitors into her process with a glimpse of materials and colors she uses in her studio. The Things We Use to Make the Things We Must encourages immersion in the mind and process of an artist and explores the many ways the familiar can be reformed into something new.
Leah Rosenberg works across artistic media to spark new experiences of color. Using painting, installation, printmaking, sculpture, performance, and video, she invites viewers to consider how color can be perceived both multi-sensorially and multi-dimensionally. By creating such enriched encounters, her work strives to deepen our understanding of the emotional and psychological impact of color in everyday life. In such works as Everywhere A Color (2018) — a commissioned installation at San Francisco Airport’s International Terminal — and her book The Color Collector’s Handbook (2018, Chronicle Books), she guides each person to form individualized connections to the many hues. Rosenberg received a BFA from Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver, BC, and an MFA from California College of the Arts in San Francisco.
Header image: Leah Rosenberg, The Things We Use to Make the Things We Must, 2025; photo: Francis Baker