#5womenartists

MADISON CREECH ON MEMES, COLLABORATION, AND THE MATERIALITY OF NOSTALGIA

Posted May 5, 2017 in Blog

Madison Creech, “#TBT Smiley,” from the series, “Always Low Brow Always,” 2016. Hand embroidery on plastic Wal-Mart bag. Photo courtesy of Madison Creech.

HCCC Curatorial Fellow Sarah Darro recently asked Madison Creech a few questions about the processes and inspiration behind her work. Madison is featured in In Residence, which is on view in HCCC’s Artist Hall through May 20, 2017. 

Sarah Darro: Your series of sculptural quilts, LOL-a-Bye Felicia, incorporates digital fabrication techniques and humorous references to music and pop culture. How do you see this work in conversation with a contemporary culture of sampling in the music industry and on the Internet?

Madison Creech: Within contemporary culture, we consume information and images without hierarchy. In one scroll through Facebook, you will find a tongue-in-check meme, then a newsworthy injustice, then a series of baby photos, etc. Each update occupies the same amount of space as the next. Our mind is subconsciously making connections and comparisons between the memes, the news, and our personal lives. I feel like a lot of my collaborative work with Matthew [Madison’s husband and artistic partner] consists of iterations of these connections and comparisons. Continue Reading »

ALTHEA CROME ON STORYTELLING THROUGH KNITTING & OUR CULTURAL FASCINATION WITH MINIATURES

Posted March 14, 2017 in Blog

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Installation view of Althea Crome’s “King and Queen of Hearts Coronation Sweater,” 2015. On view in “Pocket Museum” at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft through March 18, 2017. Photo by Scott Cartwright.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is participating in #5womenartists, a national campaign led by The National Museum of Women in the Arts to share information about women artists. Check out other entries on our blog.

This week, HCCC Curatorial Fellow Sarah Darro asked Althea Crome a few questions about the processes and inspiration behind her work. Althea is featured in Pocket Museum, which is on view in HCCC’s Artist Hall through March 18, 2017.

Sarah Darro: A number of your pieces incorporate figurative subjects and narrative elements from the art historical canon, ranging from ancient Greek amphora to Picasso paintings. You have also collaborated on projects in which characters wear your designs: the 2009 stop-motion film, Coraline, for instance. How does narrative function in your work?

Althea Crome:  Storytelling started with my four children who, as they were growing up, begged me to tell them tales. It has evolved over time into storytelling in my artwork. All of my pictorial knitting tells a story—either through a single piece or through a series of work. Some of my pieces have an autobiographical theme, like my Scuba Cardigan, which I created during a time in my life when I was my most heartbroken and found it difficult to knit. I was newly divorced and looking for ways to find meaning in my life, so I took up scuba diving. The sweater tells a story of one wonderful day of scuba diving, when we were followed out to sea by dolphins, saw a rainbow and a water spout, swam with sharks and sea turtles, and I even lost and later found my weight belt in a coral reef. I used techniques on the collar and borders to create the illusion of water and sea life. The creation of this particular piece paid homage to the things in my life that helped save my spirit and, in the process, re-energized my desire to knit.  Continue Reading »

#5womenartists:  Alicia Dietz

Posted March 8, 2017 in Blog

Photo of Alicia Dietz by Maj. Richelle Treece, US Army National Guard.

Photo of Alicia Dietz by Maj. Richelle Treece, US Army National Guard.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is participating in #5womenartists, a national campaign led by The National Museum of Women in the Arts to share information about women artists.

HCCC Curator Kathryn Hall recently asked woodworker and veteran, Alicia Dietz, currently featured in United by Hand: Work and Service by Drew Cameron, Alicia Dietz, and Ehren Tool, a few questions about her experience as a woodworker and Officer in the U.S. Army. Continue Reading »

Niki Johnson on Forging a Career as an Independent Curator and Artist

Posted March 31, 2016 in Blog

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Niki Johnson, “God & Country,” 2012. Altered commemorative plates. Photo by Scott Cartwright.

For Women’s History Month, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) joined The National Museum of Women in the Arts along with several other institutions around the country to celebrate female artists with #5womenartists, a social media campaign asking the question “Can You Name Five Women Artists?” The following blog entry celebrates a female artist whose work is on view in our galleries.  To read other articles in our series of #5womenartists, click here.

This week, we asked At Your Service artist-curator, Niki Johnson, a few questions about her career and influences.

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft: As an artist and curator, what challenges do you face in your professional practice? Are there any contemporary issues that you identify with and address in your work? 

Niki Johnson: Like most artist-curators, the greatest challenge I face is finding financial support for my projects. When curating, money buys not only the time required to handle the logistical side of setting up exhibitions, but also for their promotion, catalogue development and sometimes gallery rental fees. Locating funding requires a type of creativity and level of community outreach that at first I didn’t realize would be so important to the overall feel of each show. How an exhibition is funded affects every aspect of its appeal. This makes sense, as each exhibition is reliant on the community involved in its building, programming and viewing. Up to this point, I’ve had success with online crowd funding, institutional sponsorships, personal donations, exhibition merchandise sale and occasionally honorariums. While at times, it can be daunting to find funding, it can be done! Continue Reading »

Ceramic Artist Caroline Slotte on Her Sandblasting Process & Ascribed Memory in Her Work

Posted March 30, 2016 in Blog

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Caroline Slotte, plate from the “Tracing” series, 2015. Reworked second-hand ceramics. Photo by Caroline Slotte.

As part of the social media campaign “Can You Name Five Women Artists?” this blog entry celebrates a female artist whose work is on view in our galleries. Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) joined The National Museum of Women in the Arts along with several other institutions around the country to celebrate female artists for Women’s History Month. To read other articles in our series of #5womenartists, click here.

This week, HCCC’s Curatorial Fellow Sarah Darro asked At Your Service artist, Caroline Slotte, a few questions about the processes and inspiration behind her work.

Sarah Darro: Memories are formed and cemented, reinforcing neural pathways in our brains through repetition. Likewise, through recurring strokes, your Tracing Series transforms the decorative patterns of antique plates into intricate three-dimensional reliefs. Could you explain your process and how it relates to this physiological occurrence in the brain?

Caroline Slotte:  A recurring theme in my work concerns the interpretation of visual information – how for instance a detail that is difficult to read, a bearer of information that can only barely be decoded, has the capacity to attract the gaze and captivate attention. I frequently employ techniques of reduction and removal and have often been surprised by how little visual information that is needed in order to suggest a connection or a pictorial reference. The risk of a work becoming over-explicit in its expression is far greater than the risk of visual allusions being too subtle. Continue Reading »

Sondra Sherman on Her Artistic Influences & Social Conventions in Jewelry

Posted March 25, 2016 in Blog

Sondra Sherman, “Listen the Wind Necklace,” 2010. Sterling silver (hollow construction). Photo courtesy of Sienna Patti Contemporary.

Sondra Sherman, “Listen the Wind Necklace,” 2010. Sterling silver (hollow construction). Photo courtesy of Sienna Patti Contemporary.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) joined The National Museum of Women in the Arts in “Can You Name Five women Artists?,” a social media campaign to raise awareness of women artists. This is our third blog entry about a female artist currently exhibiting in our galleries. To read other articles in our series of #5womenartists, click here.

This week, HCCC’s Curatorial Fellow Sarah Darro asked Sondra Sherman, whose work is currently displayed in the solo exhibition Found Subjects, a few questions about her work and influences.

Sarah Darro: Be it adding pinstripes to a string of pearls or replacing the diamond of an engagement ring with an industrial tool, like a circular level, much of your work explores, and often subverts, archetypes in jewelry of gender and romance. Do you believe that there is a responsibility for jewelers to respond to social issues and/or be conscious of the gender stereotypes within jewelry and metalsmithing itself?

Sondra Sherman: I do not think there is a responsibility for jewelers to respond to social issues. I don’t believe in rules for creative production. I also find a noble social cause is sometimes used to justify lazy visual art.

I do think there are opportunities for jewelers to respond to social issues in the distinctive language and context of jewelry which are particularly potent because of its traditional symbolism, social roles, and the context of the body or wearer. Continue Reading »

Artist and Independent Curator Amelia Toelke on Recontextualizing Tradition & Female Role Models

Posted March 18, 2016 in Blog

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Amelia Toelke, “Light & Shadow, Part I” (detail), 2012. Photo by Jim Escalante.

Have you been following #5womenartists? In honor of Women’s History Month, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) joined The National Museum of Women in the Arts in a social media campaign to raise awareness of women artists. This week, HCCC’s Curatorial Fellow Sarah Darro asked Amelia Toelke, the co-curator and featured artist of At Your Service, a few questions about her work and influences.

Sarah Darro: You have worked within numerous traditionally bounded disciplines of fine art and craft (jewelry, metalsmithing, sculpture, ceramics); how have you been able to transcend these institutional distinctions and how has that influenced your work?

Amelia Toelke: I studied metalsmithing and jewelry as an undergraduate and this training continues to influence the way I approach each project I undertake. Jewelers are trained to think about every detail—with the back of a pin being just as important as the front, for example. We study the long history of functional and decorative objects and embrace their inherent qualities and imbued meanings. Continue Reading »

Five Women Artists Working in Metals, Ceramics, and Glass

Posted March 12, 2016 in Blog

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Kat Cole, “Boulder Necklace.” Mixed Media. Photo courtesy of the artist.

As part of the #5womenartists campaign, this week we bring you five talented women artists working in traditional craft media. This group of female artists is special because they are represented by Asher Gallery at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC). Continue Reading »

Artist and Ceramic Restorer Debra Broz on Gender, Craft Traditions & Her Own Art Practice

Posted March 4, 2016 in Blog

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In honor of Women’s History Month, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) is participating in #5womenartists, a national campaign led by The National Museum of Women in the Arts to share information about women artists. As mentioned here, this March, we will highlight five women artists working in traditional craft media that are currently exhibiting at HCCC.

This week, HCCC’s Hayley McSwain asked mixed-media artist and ceramic restorer, Debra Broz, currently featured in Mixed and Mastered: Turntable Kitsch, a few questions about her work and influences. Continue Reading »

Can You Name Five Women Artists?

Posted March 1, 2016 in Blog

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The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), the world’s only major museum solely dedicated to celebrating great women artists, has announced a new social media campaign for this March’s Women’s History Month and has invited Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (HCCC) and other museums across the nation to participate with them in this campaign. If someone is asked to name five artists, they will likely name prominent male artists, but how many people can list five women artists? To increase awareness, on March 1, NMWA will launch the campaign, “Can you name five women artists?,” on its website and blog as well as on social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Using the hashtag #5womenartists, the campaign will encourage online communities to help address the gender imbalance in the presentation of art both in the United States and internationally. Continue Reading »