We are pleased to introduced our newest Embrace Creatives artist partner, Christy Dickinson, a Minnesota-based painter whose extroverted studio practice thrives on discovery and conversation, with each piece revealing its completion through trust in the creative process.
A LOOK INSIDE THE ARTIST’S STUDIO.
DESCRIBE YOUR IDEAL WORKING ENVIRONMENT.
My ideal work environment pulses with music and welcomes community—an open studio where creative energy flows freely through conversation and dialogue with those who visit me.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO MAKE ART?
I’m inspired by the colors, places, and architecture I encounter in daily adventures— seeing the world through shapes and structures. My paintings come alive through the dynamic interaction between color and viewer, where each person’s cultural experience creates a unique dialogue with the work
WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCES YOUR STYLE?
As a painter, I am influenced by the abstract expressionists who come before me, especially the women painters in New York at this time. My work has always had the signature perpendicular strokes and are reminiscent of threads in weaving
and my connection and influence of textiles in my work.
I paint intuitively without preconception, allowing
multiple works to evolve simultaneously through
an open dialogue between artist and canvas.
HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR WORK EVOLVING AND WHAT NEW MEDIUMS OR THEMES DO YOU HOPE TO EXPLORE?
I seem my work evolving into a continued interplay of color and shapes. I would like to explore more use of line and explore the use of wax in the paintings.
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DO YOU CREATE SPONTANEOUSLY OR ARE YOU A PLANNER?
My paintings are created spontaneously with no preconceived notions of what will occur. It is a dialogue between me and the painting. They guide me and challenge me until I let them rest and they inform me they are complete. My practice is based on intuition and trusting the process. If you step in my studio, you will see multiple paintings in progress.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF YOUR PROCESS?
Stage One: Preparing the canvas and starting by painting it black. Stage Two: Determining the color palette for a series of works. I have developed four different color palettes used in building my current works. Stage Three: Set up multiple canvases and begin to paint Stage Four: Continue a strict studio practice and dialogue with the paintings. Stage Five: Let the works instruct me if they are complete or not. Stage Six: Fine tune the presentation of the sides by painting them with a semigloss black paint and retouch varnish the works after approx. three months of dry time (my paintings are done layers
of glazes) Stage Seven: Title and sign on back of works to complete them.
WHY DOES YOUR ART STAND APART FROM OTHER WORKS CREATED USING SIMILAR MEDIA?
My paintings stand apart with their use of color, the use of black as the base, and the unstructured edges around the paintings. My brushstroke. poetry collection explores the graphic qualities of taking my strokes apart.
WHAT LIFE EXPERIENCES HAVE INFLUENCED YOUR ART THE MOST?
My experience of working alongside a variety of communities to use art as engagement and working with performing artists, especially theater artists, to see first-hand collaboration between creatives. Traveling to different areas of the country and experiencing art in both rural and urban centers and my love of architecture both in New York City and Santa Fe.
IF SOMEONE CAME TO YOU WITH A DREAM PROJECT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
My work has been exhibited in many public places, including hospitals and senior centers. My dream project would be 10 original large-scale paintings, bigger than life-size, that consumes a public space (like a hospital or airport) or a commercial space where people have my color surrounding them in their daily life. A space where the viewer is interacting with my paintings and they are larger than life.
DESCRIBE A “GREAT” STUDIO DAY.
It begins with a Nespresso and the sun rising and shining in my studio with the pigeons cooing outside. A peaceful moment, as I set up my paints, brushes, and easels with blank canvas. I stand before them and gather the color palette that will be used in these works. I have at least six canvases ready to go, along with some paper for smaller works. Now time for music, as I being to create. Things begin to flow and the hours go by. Now, time for a break for some food and conversations about the work with my fellow artists in the warehouse. We discuss where the work is going. Then, back to painting until the sun
goes down and I say goodnight to the works in progress excited to be back in the studio the next day to continue the dialogue with the paintings.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE TOOL OR MEDIUM, AND IF SO TELL US WHY.
My favorite medium is oil paint because it continues to surprise me with how color is influenced by the transparent colors and glazes I use and how the light refracts of it to give that final glow.
TELL US SOMETHING FUN ABOUT YOURSELF.
I like to dance to the music when painting, so don’t be surprised to walk into my open studio to find me having fun.
WHAT FAMOUS PERSON WOULD YOU LIKE TO OWN YOUR WORK?
Philip Glass.
ANYTHING WE MISSED THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE?
Many times there are figures peeking through the shapes and pattern of my paintings. It’s fine if I only see them. They may me aware of the importance of community to me as an artist.
For more information on any artwork in this interview, this artist or to schedule a Meet & Greet, contact Andrea.
