Feeld Interviews: Samantha Rothenberg

Questions of desire and pleasure are everywhere around us, and they are most exciting when we explore them with openness and imagination. In our new interview series, One Night Stands, we put a few playful questions to creatives who we believe are interrogating these questions in the boldest ways—whether through writing, film, art, or other mediums.

Introducing Samantha Rothenberg, an illustrator, comic artist and Comfort Influencer™️ based in Portland, OR who portrays questions around emotions, self-worth and Endometriosis via her Instagram alter ego Violet Clair. 

My love language is

Emotional vulnerability and talking about your feelings. Exhibiting emotional maturity and awareness is truly the way to my heart.

Pure pleasure for me is

Clean linen sheets, just-picked vegetables, cozy rainy days, big mugs of tea, front porches with bench swings.

I feel good when I’m wearing

Comfortable footwear.

I feel most connected to myself when 

I’m keeping up with my self-care routine. I have endometriosis so, in order to feel okay, I've really got to keep on top of my health and wellness.

My most niche kink is

Emotional availability. It took a lot of therapy and healing work for this to become something that actually turns me on, but now that it is I feel like I'm finally pursuing people who are so much more emotionally healthy.

One thing I’ve learned about desire is

To not always trust it.

I’ve always wanted to

Get really good at gardening.

My best date was

When I splurged on a bottle of really fancy German riesling and we drank it on my Brooklyn roof while smoking a joint at sunset. It was just one of those “is my life a movie?” moments.

On my nightstand you’ll always find 

A stack of psychology books.

I always gather inspiration from

Mushrooms.

My ideal/fantasy relationship is

Lots of trust, vulnerability, and emotional intimacy.

I’m currently listening to/watching/reading 

Haley Heynderickx/Tuca & Bertie/bell hooks.

My style/life icon is

Fiona Apple.

You can usually find me

Chopping vegetables.

Recently I’ve discovered

That pulling weeds out of the earth is great therapy.

I wish more people knew

What endometriosis is.

I love sharing

Whatever I’m cooking. Lately that's been lots of kale salads, pastas, and bean soups. I think cooking a meal for a group of friends is one of my favorite things in the world.

The thing I couldn’t do without

My heating pad.

I currently can’t get enough of

The berries growing in my yard!

The work of art that changed everything for me is

The Fevers and Mirrors album by Bright Eyes.

The best advice I’ve ever received is

I’m allowed to cut people from my life who make me feel bad.

The last thing I loved was

A friendly cat I encountered on my morning walk.

I’m most looking forward to

The fact I just moved to Portland after living in New York for my entire life, and I can’t wait to see what unfolds.

I’m most turned on by

Good personal style. If someone has a cool, comfortable, and unique sense of fashion, I find that super hot!