Artist: Christina Massey of Brooklyn, New York, USA
Interview 135: Christina exhibited in the 2014 World of Threads Festival in the exhibition Solo Shows & Installations in the Corridor Galleries at out main festival venue Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
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Interviews published and curated by Gareth Bate & Dawne Rudman.
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Artist Christina Massey. Studio shot, 2014. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
Tell us about the art that you create:
I am a painter, fibre artist and installation artist. I combine acrylic, watercolour and oil paintings with fibre art techniques such as quilting, knotting and hand stitching to create both wall-hung work and room filled installations. I often incorporate found materials such as clothing, wire and thread that add purpose and meaning to the works conceptual ideas that often touch on various political or social topics. I cut up and “destroy” my past artworks by taking them off their stretcher frames, cutting and tearing them apart and reusing the segments to create the new work in a different form. Some of these canvases have been repurposed many times over. I’ll combine new canvas and other elements as needed for the current work, sometimes leaving the surface of the old painting as it once was, sometimes adding more paint on top of it, but still leaving it identifiable as the previous artwork. It’s a process of constantly constructing and deconstructing, always building upon the old for the new.
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Interwoven 6, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts, 43cm x 43cm, Hand Woven & Stitched. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
You say that you construct and deconstruct. How, why & when did you decide on this process to make art?
How, why & when did you decide on this process to make art? I first began to repurpose my work in 2007 when I created the “Meat Market” installation. It was a project that I’d had in mind, yet hadn’t begun when the opportunity to exhibit it as a solo show came up, with only a week’s notice. Out of necessity I had to repurpose work to make the deadline. It pushed my mind past certain boundaries and ideas about how to value your own work in a very influential and sustaining way. Quite frankly I fell in love with the process. It was the “light bulb” moment when I was like: yes, this is it. This is what I should be doing. It added depth, purpose and meaning in all the ways I had been striving to do in my work. It’s a philosophical approach to creating, the letting go in order to move forward.
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Interwoven 2, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts, 61cm x 61cm, Hand Woven & Stitched. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
Explain the process you go through when deciding which of our pieces will remain ‘in tact’ and which will be ‘torn apart’ and ‘reconstructed into new art”:
The new work always takes precedence. So whatever project or idea for a new artwork comes along, if the destruction of a past work is what will make it better, then that’s what I feel I need to do. I do always go through the self-doubt, asking myself if older work is needed at all, would the work have the same meaning and presence if it was all newly created, would anyone even be able to tell the difference? But it’s the history in the old work that I love. I look at the canvases and remember the struggles or thoughts that were going through my head at the time I was creating it, and that ends up being influential again in the new work. There are always those pieces that I have a lot harder time breaking down than others. The ones that hurt a little to do often end up becoming my favourites again afterwards though, which may again in the future be repurposed again, time will tell.
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Interwoven 3, Oil on Canvas with Denim, 61cm x 61cm, Hand Woven & Stitched. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
In the Come Undone series you say that the series can disguise itself as one, or one work that is secretly many. Tell us about this and how this statement plays out for you:
This work is essentially composed of multiple woven “panels” that hang together in a curtain-like form. However, they were also created to hang as individual works. I was thinking about the general artistic practice of creating a series of work versus a body of work or a single artwork. How collectively sometimes work takes on a different meaning or impact than individually. Or reversely, how one individual can impact and alter a much larger group.
Come Undone was also created to co-exhibit with a series of woven paintings that were titled after various “artsy” neighbourhoods, a commentary on the relationship of artists to gentrification. Gentrification often being referred to as the “undoing” of a neighbourhood, Come Undone was as much about the unraveling of the physical painting but also the undoing so to speak of a neighbourhood. The contrast and comparison of that of the physical artwork to that of the individual person or neighbourhood became the inspiration behind the process and thought of how I created the work.
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Interwoven 7, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts, 56cm x 56cm, Hand Woven & Stitched. |
What was the inspiration and motivation behind the series Stripes Earned?
I was interested in how I could push the blending of painting and fibre arts further than I had done in the past. The series started off as an experiment, I cut up old paintings into long thin strips and gathered every little last scrap of previous paintings that had not yet made it into new works from the past ten years. I learned how to use the floor loom at a residency, and via the nature of the process, ended up being inspired by the literal stripes being created by using the paintings as my weft. The weaving process is very repetitive and almost meditative. So while working I would let my mind wander and I began to think about expectations and what it means to “earn your stripes.” Had my canvases earned them so to speak by this point? Having been cut down to mere little strips. This essentially became the muse for the series. I began to think of the checklist that most artists share as their artistic goals. What expectations we put upon ourselves or feel put on by others to achieve during our artistic careers. It’s a series still in progress, and as I get further into it I’m sure more ideas and thoughts will be added, but I am focusing on those metaphorical stripes that we as artists seek.
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Interwoven 4, Oil on Canvas with Denim, 61cm x 61cm, Hand Woven & Stitched. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
Tell us about the residency where you learnt to use a floor loom, incorporating the ‘results’ into your work:
The residency was at Weaving Hand in Brooklyn, New York. At the residency I had access to a weaving studio, my own floor loom to use and helped teach a few classes in their Healing Arts program. I had very limited experience with weaving prior to the residency, and a good portion of the residency was just getting myself familiar with the equipment and techniques. They helped teach me how to dress the loom and encouraged experimentation with the process, and I was also introduced to indigo dying, tapestry making and traditional back strap weaving as well, of which all I plan to adapt into my practice and am experimenting further with currently.
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Interwoven 8, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts & Denim, 51cm x 51cm, Hand Woven & Stitched. |
Was there a high point for you during the residency?
The residency finished with a two-person exhibition that I was very proud of. However, it was seeing the completion of my student’s projects in the Healing Arts Program that was the highlight for me. My class consisted of only four adults, (the classes are for adults with developmental disabilities). Their project was to use brightly coloured magazine pages, fold those up into small strips to use as their weft and alternate those strips with varying colours of yarn between the magazine pages. They all looked at me like I was crazy when I first explained the project, but after a short demo they understood and got very into the project. Their faces lit up with excitement seeing the bright colourful weavings come off the looms for the first time, and that was by far my biggest highlight. The pieces were really beautiful and well received during the final exhibition where a few were hung as well.
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Business & Pleasure 20, Oil on Canvas with Collared & Polo Shirts, 2012, 46cm W x 46cm H x 8cm D, Hand Stitched & Knotted. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
On the flip side tell us about a low point and how you came through it:
I had done an indigo dye and had an idea of what I’d wanted to achieve with that in my weaving. This however, was not meant to be. The yarn continued to snap and break making it impossible to do what I’d set out to do. But as I am often inspired by the destruction of something, this was no different. I loved those loose flopping threads and the inconsistency created in the weave. It ended up teaching me how to get that effect intentionally and inspired how I would cut up and break apart weavings later on when incorporating them into other works.
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Business & Pleasure 25, (detail) Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts, 2013, 36cm W x 36cm H x 8cm D, Hand Stitched & Knotted. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Business & Pleasure 14, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts & Slacks, 2011, 81cm W x 81cm H x 8cm D, Hand Stitched & Knotted. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
You also create installation pieces. What are the main differences for you when producing your woven paintings compared with the installations?
Scale is the most obvious difference, however the exhibition format and architecture becomes a part of the experience with installation in a way that stays separate with painting. When creating an installation I am thinking more of how the work is blending into an environment versus how it sits within in it (as a painting would). The structure that an installation sits in ultimately influences how the work is seen and experienced, where a painting doesn’t have that same blending with the environment. The viewer is able to distinguish boundaries and understands where the painting begins and ends. With an installation that barrier doesn’t exist, so it becomes a part of the Artwork. How tall or short people are, how they flow through the space, the ability for the work to withstand getting bumped into or touched more than a painting would, are all things I have to think about. And as most of my installations involve at least some sort of hanging element, the feasibility of that in each space is always unique and different.
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Business & Pleasure 5, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts, 2010, 71cm W x 71cm H x 8cm D, Hand Stitched & Knotted. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
What challenges have you faced with your installation work and how have you overcome them?
For the most part, many of my installations have at least some portion, if not entirely, hung from the ceiling. This means that any vents or air movement can and have changed the way that someone sees and experiences the work. With some works I don’t mind the little movements, but others I try to prevent it. I’ve had to add in weights and or wiring to help eliminate those problems in the past. In an upcoming project, I will have to think about barriers of some sort as there are parts that could do physical harm to viewers if they were too close. Either hanging the work extra high or installing it in such a way that prevents people from getting too close, which will of course change the way that it is experienced. So I am currently setting up micro installations (smaller versions of the larger end project) to be able to determine what is best for the work.
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Business & Pleasure 12, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts & Denim, 2011, 97cm W x 97cm H x 8cm D, Hand Stitched & Knotted. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
The Meat Market series is very realistic. Explain how you came to create this series:
The Meat Market series comes off much more realistic in photographs than it does in person. It’s created from tearing apart and “killing” so to speak multiple of the Dead Paintings series that I mentioned above. So each hanging work is made of multiple canvases that have an abstract surface, but all these surfaces are in a fleshy tone so that when combined together create the illusion of representation. The size, form and installation on the hooks leads the mind to make that jump to realism, which, I do lead the viewer to that conclusion much more directly than I do in other works.
The installation itself was something I had thought about for a long time prior to creating, but the process of creating the three dimensional forms was quite quick. I made the first installment of the work in about a week, however if you add in all the hours to complete each individual canvas, we’d be talking years of preparation.
I had recently moved to New York City and found the fact that Chelsea, one of the largest art districts, had previously been the meatpacking district to be very ironic. It was a bit of a commentary on how cruel and inhumane the industry can feel at times and how Chelsea in its current form, full of trendy restaurants and bars, compared with how the art industry is just as superficial at times, feeling a bit more like a “meat market” bar scene than an art exhibition on many occasions.
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Business & Pleasure 3, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts, 2009, 91cm W x 91cm H x 8cm D, Hand Stitched & Knotted. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
Some of your work has a social/political theme. What messages are you attempting to convey through your art?
All my work essentially relates back to the Art World itself even when a political message is a part of the theme. I find using larger political platforms invites in a larger audience and feels more inclusive for a broader range of people than solely being about one artistic topic. I feel the Art World can get a little “preachy” and/or pretentious sometimes, so I often like to point out our own flaws, mistakes and imperfections by relating our experiences as artists to that of all the other hats we wear such as the environmentalist, community representative or small business owner. Just as I tend to like blending more than one process or medium together, I like to find the similarities and differences of a topic and how those can relate to each other from different viewpoints. I’ll pick topics that speak to me personally, drawing from my own experiences be that from being priced out of a neighbourhood, to losing a job during the Recession and reflect those experiences back into the work in a way that adds meaning and depth and continues the story telling of my career as an artist.
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Business & Pleasure 21, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts, 2012, 122cm W x 122cm H x 10cm D, Hand Stitched & Knotted. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
Tell us about the meaning behind the Business & Pleasure series:
The Business & Pleasure series began after losing my job during the peak of the Recession. The topic of money became an everyday discussion. Never was it so obvious to me how much money was the driving force behind what was or wasn’t created and even seen. I strove to create a series where identifiable objects that to me represented wealth, commercialism and the corporate world would be hidden within and influence the composition of the artwork. This came in the form of donated business attire during the time of the Bank Bail Outs. I hand stitched together these collared shirts, khaki’s, nylons and polo shirts with scraps of canvases to create these very three-dimensional quilt-like surfaces. I used the most identifiable parts of the clothing, the buttons, zippers and pockets appearing beneath, alongside or atop the canvas, which is sealed, primed and painted itself as a way of representing how much money or wealth can subtly or sometimes obviously influence Art.
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Business & Pleasure 7, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts & Khaki's, 2011, 97cm W x 97cm H x 8cm D, Hand Stitched & Knotted. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Business & Pleasure 9, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts & Slacks, 2011, 107cm W x 107cm H x 10cm D, Hand Stitched & Knotted. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
You used business attire donated from bank employees – how did you get people to donate their clothing to you?
The clothing came by chance at first, a neighbour, who happened to be a bank employee, putting old ties on the street for someone to take. I knew that I wanted to include these elements into the work, but needed quite a bit of it to achieve the quantity that I wanted to produce. So I first just asked around, using social media to help friends introduce me to their friends that might have something to donate. This worked quite well, and is how I acquired the majority of materials. Much of it had a hole, ink or coffee stain making it unacceptable to clothing charities, so for many it was nice to know the clothing would be reused in a creative way.
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Business & Pleasure 16, Oil on Canvas with Collared Shirts, 2011, 71cm W x 71cm H x 10cm D, Hand Stitched & Knotted. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
In An Art Community you mention that it challenges the notions of permanence, connections and identification from place. Explain what you mean and how this work interprets your thoughts and feelings:
This series was a commentary and reaction to myself having been priced out of a neighbourhood, but at the same time admittedly one of the initial causes of the beginning of gentrification in the very same neighbourhood I could no longer afford. It’s a common urban topic, a cheap neighbourhood has enough artists move in seeking out those lower rents to afford making their work, and soon after the college kids follow, with the coffee shops, bars, and even galleries following suit, raising the rents and driving those out who grew up there, as landlords get greedy and competition for those “cheap rents” increases. Although, it feels very personal and current when it’s happening, it’s a story that just continues to repeat itself. What is now a hip art community was once a gang filled Hispanic one, but before that it was Italian, and before that Jamaican, and before that Dutch … and will likely change again in the not so near future.
The works are essentially a series of varying woven paintings that range from beige to dark brown. They are tentatively titled after various artistic neighbourhoods and cities and abstractly represent the ethnic group that is the majority there, however as these regions adapt and change due to the moving patterns of the people, so does the artworks titles. They change and adapt to the current environment leaving a history and story themselves on how they relate to and best represent the present.
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Meat Market, (window installation at Chashama, NYC), Acrylic & Oil on Canvas and Paper, Raw Canvas, Cloth and Meat Hooks, 2007, 366cm W x 122cm H x 91cm D, hand knotted installation. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
What interests you about the World of Threads Festival?
I was interested in the World of Threads Festival mainly for the Art! I have for a long time been heavily influenced by fibre arts and find the collection and range of work shown to be incredibly well created, thought out and powerful. To be included among the other artists is truly an honour.
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Meat Market, (detail), Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, Raw Canvas, Cloth and Meat Hooks, 2007, dimensions variable, hand knotted installation. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
You were accepted into the World of Threads Festival 2014. What was your motivation for submitting your work for consideration?
Although my work isn’t traditional fibre art, I thought I could add a different perspective and process that would complement the other work. I wanted the opportunity to show in a festival that highlighted the tactile elements of my process over the medium that is used, which tends to be the typical focus when exhibited in other settings.
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Meat Market, (Chashama, NYC) Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, Raw Canvas, Cloth and Meat Hooks, 2010, dimensions variable, hand knotted installation. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
Is there a particular art related book that you refer to on a regular basis or from which you draw inspiration?
There is not a particular book that I refer to on any regular basis. I do occasionally check out books about process from the library, and do enjoy political reads that influence the conceptual basis of my work, but mostly I tend to use the Internet for most information. YouTube has actually been my favourite source when looking up a new process. I’ll look up everything from dyeing techniques, to weaving, macramé, and sewing to gain tid bits of knowledge to add to my base all the time. Pinterest is also a great source for crafty ideas that can lend themselves to larger projects as well.
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Meat Market, (Taller Boricua, NYC) Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, Raw Canvas, Cloth and Meat Hooks, 2011, dimensions variable, hand knotted installation. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Meat Market, (Soapbox Gallery, Brooklyn, NY) Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, Raw Canvas, Cloth and Meat Hooks, 2008, dimensions variable, hand knotted installation. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Come Undone, (Contemporary Art Fair, NYC) Acrylic & Oil on Canvas, Linen & Paper with Wire, 2013, dimensions variable, hand woven installation. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Artists Collective, Collagraph Monoprint, 2014, 41cm W x 41cm H x 4 cm D, Hand Woven. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Online Presence, Collagraph Monoprint, 2014, 41cm W x 41cm H x 3 cm D, Hand Woven. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Art Fairs, Collagraph Monoprint, 2014, 41cm W x 41cm H x 3 cm D (each), Hand Woven. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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An Art Community: Detroit, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas & Paper, 2010, 86cm W x 66cm H, Hand Woven. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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An Art Community: London, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas & Paper, 2010, 86cm W x 66cm H, Hand Woven. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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An Art Community: Miami, Acrylic & Oil on Canvas & Paper, 2010, 86cm W x 66cm H, Hand Woven. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Studio shot, Hand stitching, 2014. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Studio shot, 2014. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Studio shot, 2014. Photo: Courtesy of the artist. |
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Healing Arts Program, Weaving Hand Artist Residency, 2014. Photo: courtesy of Weaving Hand. |
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