Artist Feature: Crystal Brown
Super stoked to present this feature with artist Crystal Brown, who is one of the artists in my (LFF Founding Editor Sally) birthday exhibit opening August 25, at Morgantown Art Party. See Facebook event here. Crystal shares with LFF about why she creates, feminism in her work, being a mother artist and more. All artwork © Crystal Brown.
Where are you from and what drives you to make creative work?
I’m originally from Michigan but I am currently living in Buckhannon, WV.
I am an interdisciplinary artist.
I have been a maker of things my whole life. It is a way of processing cognitive and emotional thought. Most of my work is a biographical response to the world around me and/or personal current events. For the last ten years I have been exploring mothering, domestic labor, creating and supporting community and rediscovering myself.
Artist Wanda Ewing, who curated and titled the original LFF exhibit, examined the perspective of femininity and race in her work, and spoke positively of feminism, saying “yes, it is still relevant” to have exhibits and forums for women in art; does feminism play a role in your work?
As the saying goes “the personal is political” and by making work about my role as mother/artist I aim to reveal and sometimes romanticize the underappreciated aspects of everyday life through the use of textiles, sculpture, time-based media, social practice and drawing. Yes, feminism does play a role in my work because I am navigating a world where being both a mother and an artist are often seen as opposing forces. I’m working everyday to create a more holistic studio and domestic practice as a way to rebel against social expectations of the mother and artist as dualling forces.
Does collaboration play a role in your work—whether with your community, artists or others? How so and how does this impact your work?
Collaboration for me often happens with my kids and family. Like drawing my kid’s Lego sculptures and borrowing their clothes to put in a sculpture. Collaboration also happens in my social-practice work like in the ongoing performance, I Will Mend Your Clothes and My Body Is Not A Battleground where I collaborate with the community to mend clothes and sew text onto clothes.
Tell me about your most recent work and why its important to you.
In a new and ongoing body of work I am exploring my every-day running practice as self-reflection through drawing. Running has become a way to reconnect with my pre-mother self and declare space and time for myself. After ten years of parenting this feels radical and necessary for my growth as a multifaceted person.
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Crystal Ann Brown, Artist/Mother
crystalannbrown.com
The Hown's Den, A Nomadic + Domestic Exhibition Space
thehownsden.com
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Les Femmes Folles is a volunteer organization founded in 2011 with the mission to support and promote women in all forms, styles and levels of art from around the world with the online journal, print annuals, exhibitions and events; originally inspired by artist Wanda Ewing and her curated exhibit by the name Les Femmes Folles (Wild Women). LFF was created and is curated by Sally Brown Deskins. LFF Books is a micro-feminist press that publishes 1-2 books per year by the creators of Les Femmes Folles including the award-winning Intimates & Fools (Laura Madeline Wiseman, 2014) , The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters: Ten Tales (Laura Madeline Wiseman/Lauren Rinaldi, 2015 and Mes Predices (catalog of art/writing by Marie Peter Toltz, 2017). Other titles include Les Femmes Folles: The Women 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 available on blurb.com, including art, poetry and interview excerpts from women artists. A portion of the proceeds from LFF books and products benefit the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Wanda Ewing Scholarship Fund.
Submissions always open!
https://femmesfollesnebraska.tumblr.com/callforart-writing