Shawna Cross Contemporary Fine Artist

 

2011: A YEAR OF COLLABORATIONS

12/09/2010

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COLLABORATIONS. I'm all about them, and I've been really, really into them this past year. Unfortunately, although the outcome has been amazingly fortunate, since June started I've somehow given all of my time away and most of the collaborations I've been interested in haven't moved past the "inspired idea" stage. This drives me crazy. This makes me cranky. This makes me restless. 

Enter January 2011. Quiet time. STUDIO TIME. Full blown, mostly uninterrupted, studio. time. I'm kicking it off with the beginnings of a sound installation, something I've been interested in for a very long time now, with Matt Mayer of A Snake in the Garden and NNA Tapes, a fellow 180 resident. The collaboration is a match made in abstract heaven, as our work runs along parallel conceptual paths: My work is and always has been about manipulating colors/textures/application to evoke emotions that create some kind of inner noise, and Matt's is about "manipulating sound and sonic texture (more specifically from found metal) in a cathartic and primitive way in order to convey emotion/feeling without any direct reference or representation.. and attempting to communicate thought/emotion that cannot be communicated in any other way". I'm so excited to see where we can go with this and which direction we push it in. I've been obsessed, obsessed, with the idea of erasing and destructing memories and their attached emotions, tearing them into nonrepresentational still frames that exist on their own and can create new paths, so maybe this is the perfect opportunity for the concept to be recognized. Here's a video of one of Matt's shows at his 180 studio:


OTHER and equally exciting collaborations include the creation of a new book with my studio mate Haley Bishop (finally!), whose work also revolves around the importance of memory,
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Haley Bishop, 'City Scape'


a new Borough show revolving around the idea of storytelling that includes artists such as Rich Pellegrino, Eric Reinemann, Jessica Deahl, Cameron Schmitz, Borough residents Haley Bishop and Stephen Orloske, and hopefully Isaac Pelepko, among others (all images courtesy of respective artists),


and proposed exhibition ideas with fellow painters Ian Burcroff and James Juron over in New York. 


And, finally, if we can ever get it together, my most beloved and amazing friend Phil Hardy, who I'm already working on a children's book with, and I have been talking about a really conceptual installation for months now, one that wraps together the abstract sublime and dadaism. So, maybe in this year of collaborations, we'll eventually make it happen. 


I'd say this is enough to look forward to, and I'm excited and preparing to kick off 2011. It's ambitious, and I'm excited to see which direction all of the above Not that the rest of December isn't enough to look forward to as it is, because I definitely have amazing things coming up: two of my most loved friends are coming in to Vermont from Norway and Africa next week (ahhh!!!!). Can't wait to start these collaborations, and I can't wait to see where they all go. 
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ART HOP!

11/16/2010

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ART HOP! It was great. As Always. Such a delayed post, but better late than never. It was the first show our new studio mate Haley participated in, and I pulled my friends Ian Burcroff and Phil Hardy over from New York to participate as well. Our show was called Riddles and Lies: Charged by Desire check it out. Art's Alive came by on Saturday to do short film interviews with each of us, asking for a description of how "Art Supports Me" and why the hell we're artists, anyway. What a question. Click the photo below for images of the all-night marathon installation Phil, his brother Rowan and I enlisted ourselves in the night before the Hop (the best part of any show, if you ask me...always the most exhilarating, fun and caffeine-crazed time), the opening itself, and interviews. Enjoy!
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UPCOMING SHOW: ORGANIC ABSTRACTION at fulton street gallery, troy, ny

08/17/2010

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TROY! NY! My friend  J A M E S   J U R O N  is curating a new show at  
F U L T O N   S T R E E T   G A L L E R Y, composed completely of abstract artists. I've been looking forward to being a part of this exhibit since spring AND, one of my best friends,  E L E A N O R   D A R L I N G , will be participating in the show as well. 
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'FETTER', Eleanor Darling, crocheted wool, variable size
ORGANIC ABSTRACTION, curated around 3 abstract artists (Andy Jimison of Brooklyn Art Alternative, Eleanor and myself) whose work has organic qualities within its nature, opens with Troy's monthly last-friday celebration, T R O Y   N I G H T   O U T
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clearly an outdated poster
FRIDAY, AUGUST 27th, 5pm - 9pm, come to Fulton Street Gallery for a troy night out!  4 0 6   F U L T O N   S T R E E T , T R O Y ,  N Y
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interior view of the gallery
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CHILDREN'S BOOK COLLABORATION

08/17/2010

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AHOY! I've recently packed the bags of my overly active and nonsensical imagination and sent it out on a new journey; I've started a children's book collaboration with my friend  P H I L   H A R D Y ,  who has an equally imaginative mind and flare for nonsense. Perfect collaboration? I say yes. 

I'm posting a few sketches and blurbs from the story, but heads up:




i f   y o u   s t e a l   a n y   o f   t h e s e   i d e a s   i   s w e a r   i   w i l l   f i n d

y o u,   w r a p   y o u   u p   i n   c a n v a s,   a n d   s e n d   y o u   w h e r e

a l l   a r t   t h i e v e s   g o   t o   m o u r n   t h e i r   b a d   d e c i s i o n s   

a n d   l a m e n t   t h e i r   i n a b i l i t y   t o   c r e a t e   o r i g i n a l   w o r k




Just a warning. I'm sure you're cool. But, if you needed something to discourage a bad decision, there you go. 

The gist of the story, essentially, is about a small town's mysterious folk, and it's full of the nonsensical riddles that make eyes shiny and bright. Here's a peek! All images courtesy of Phil. 
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"although he was so well liked, no one really knew much about Mr. Hufferpoof or where he came from. His clothing was exotic: colorful, beaded, curled at all angles and full of buttons that weren't needed...he floated into their tiny town one day and just never left. What everyone did know, however, was that he could sometimes be seen floating in the air, suspended by only his suspenders. No one really questioned this, because suspenders, purely by definition, are supposed to suspend something anyway; what's wrong with them suspending him?"

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"When Hufferpoof saw Florence, the town's seamstress & cobbler, his eyes lit up, his mustache got an extra curl on the left side, and not only did one of his pockets fall off RIGHT THEN, but his horse also complained that its shoes were too tight. AH! It must have been the universe intervening! Florence said she could fix these problems-no problem!-for only the cost of 8 dabblers and a dash of lingering (the tiny town's local currency). Mr. Hufferpoof's mustache suddenly drooped on the right side. He was fresh out of dabblers AND lingerings, as he had just purchased a new set of elbows (which don't come cheap, you see). Then, his hat spun around and an idea flashed in his mind."

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"They stepped into the curious ride, and with a loud VABOOSH! that rattled the shingles of all the neighborhood's roofs, they flew into the air. They went above the scattered shingles, now bickering and arranging themselves back in proper order, above the chimneys of the highest post offices, farther than the tree tops, and level with the birds."




It's going to be good. I already worry that I've given too much away, but I also know I left the best parts out. Stay tuned! There's an exciting future for this collaboration; many stories ahead. 

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