CRYSTAL WAGNER: SUBLIME
Crystal Wagner received her MFA from the University of Tennessee in 2008, her BFA from theAtlanta College of Art in 2004, and her AFA from Keystone College in 2002. After teaching as a college art professor for five years, Crystal left academia to focus exclusively on her studio practice.Wagner’s interest in combining 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional forms, alternative use of materials, and hybrid approaches to printmaking, and massive site-specific installations, have led to her artwork being exhibited extensively in the U.S and abroad.
EXHIBITION DATES: July 9, 2022–October 15, 2022
Her most recent commissions include a large-scale installation for the internationally recognized band The Flaming Lips, a large shadow box for GNU a snowboard company out of Portland, OR, a large-scale installation piece for NIKE, presented in the Shrine Auditorium for The KOBE X Blackout Experience, and most recently two installations for Viacom, one of which is a 117 ft piece at their headquarters inTimes Square. It was featured by the New York Times and was broadcast on national television on VH1's Top 20 Countdown.Currently you can find countless features on her work: New York Times, Architectural Digest, Artnet, Hi Fructose, Juxtapoze Magazine, Arrestedmotion.com, ArtAttacks Online, Art &Science Journal, Inspir3d.com, Complex Art & Design Magazine, Crome Yellow Magazine,Catapult Art Magazine, My Modern Met, Beautiful Decay Magazine and Dzinetripmagazine.com, and many more.
Wagner is a full-time interdisciplinary artist whose work builds worlds by incorporating textural materials and the natural movement of our bodies through temporary landscapes. Wagner describes her process as “intuitive and organic”. She walks into a building and simply responds to the architecture and environment that surrounds her. Her utilization of the unique characteristics of each individual area that she works within, guides her through the creation of these new whimsical worlds. These organic structures move through the space with an artificial vibrancy reminiscent of flowers and tropical settings;“a waterfall of color” as described by Pat Hazell in a recent podcast interview with Wagner.
These monumental-scale works reactivate the relationship between our bodies and the natural environment, waking our senses up upon our entrance into this immersive exhibition. This leaves the viewer experiencing grand feelings, similar to the feeling one might get standing next to a giant sequoia tree, as the artist has referenced. Wagner’s design work is very reminiscent of the Art Deco/Art Nouveau genre, and we can clearly see her influence by Gaudí. These natural movements exist architecturally on the surface. Similar to Gaudí, Wagner comes from a family of craftsmen, where the architectural form is another way of seeing the world, a vision seen in all of her works.
Wagner uses a hybrid approach with the use of both organic and manufactured materials. She uses materials such as chicken wire for the substrate, coupled with kite paper or picnic table covers for the finish out. These materials have traveled all over the world. They have been reused and recycled in various works across the globe. Wagner’s work is an outward expression of herself–joyful, curious, whimsical, and musical.