Five Questions for Artist Mary Crenshaw
Words:
What comes to mind when I think about my process is the word “ruthless”. I am constantly moving, marking, layering, destroying, cutting, and recomposing. Needless to say, I make many failed works with this exploratory technique. However, It is a way of finding something that surprises me, and in turn, hopefully, something that will surprise the viewer.
After decades, I returned to clay as a medium, always having been a fan of Picasso's painted ceramics. My aim is that both my paintings and ceramic works set up narratives. The content of my work has drastically changed over the past year. Whereas before I looked outwardly and used daily encounters with migrants on Milan street corners as starting points, now, I look inwardly, alluding to memory and personal experiences.
Five Questions:
Interviews in Excellence with Artist
Mary Crenshaw
Acorn to Oak to Acorn, oil, mixed media on canvas, 210 x 230 cm, 2020; Mary Crenshaw.
1. How do you get in the right mindset to make your work? Do you have a particular strategy?
I always take long walks, wherever I am. Doing so clears my head, puts me in a good mood, and energizes me. Also, cleaning and putting in order art supplies in the studio is a what I like to do while thinking about what it is I want to make. Then, once I get down to work, my surroundings become totally chaotic and that’s when ideas start flowing.
Installation view; Mary Crenshaw.
2. What is your favorite piece that you have made and why?
Rubin’s Vase is a recent work that feels successful and one I am happy with. It’s a self-portrait of me during (the second) lockdown. Like many of us, I felt like a caged bird at that time, frightened and scared and these feelings surfaced in the painting. The vase part is from an abstract oil on canvas landscape painting I made years ago. It seemed to be just the right thing to make a beautiful vase for the desperate figure to cling to. This is when I began experimenting with adding 3d pieces and they somehow naturally to fell into place.
Rubin’s Vase, Mary Crenshaw.
3. If you could time travel to any period in history, past or future, what would it be? why?
My favorite location on earth is Pompei, so I have to say there, pre August 24, 79 CE and the Mount Vesuvius eruption. At first, I would become acclimated , just stroll around and sample honey- sweetened crushed ice, to see what everything looked like. Then, I would get a fancy hairstyle and go swimming in one of the indoor pools, probably not in that order. It would be fun to get a painting gig, either painting statues or making decorative murals for houses. Before time traveling, however, I would need to brush up on my Latin and take some lessons in painting al fresco from my friend Heather.
Tuffo, mixed media on canvas, 187x210 cm, 2021, Mary Crenshaw.
4. What process do you go through in preparing for a work that you are about to make?
I just dive in. One thing is that I need to have materials on hand, so when I run out of canvas or certain colors of paint I make sure to stock up. If I paint on paper, it is pretty immediate. Fabriano Figuras paper for oil is great because it is already prepared. As far as working on canvas, that is another story. Anyone who is a painter knows what I am talking about. Paintings are strange. One day, you will think, “Ah, this one is working!” Then, the next time you see it, you can’t believe you thought that it was any good and re-work. I used to obsessively work on my paintings. Now that I have an adjoining clay studio, I can use that excess energy there instead of being too finicky with canvases.
Toot, earthernware painted with engobe and transparent glaze, 20x16x16 cm, 2021, Mary Crenshaw.
5. If you could hang your work next to any other artist’s work (past or present) whose work would it be? What piece in particular?
This is a challenging question, something I’ve really never thought about. Can I have four? Betty Woodman, Chantal Joffe, Nicole Eisenman, and Florine Stettheimer. There, I’ve curated my own dream show. No works in particular because everything the above artists make appeals to me.
Reach, oil, spray enamel on unstretched and sewn, stuffed canvas, 80 x 130 cm, 2020; Mary Crenshaw
And One More…
Do you have any advice to give artists that you would like to share?
Never listen to anyone else when it comes to your own work, not praise, not criticism, not anything. Just keep going. For me the biggest reward is having a good day in the studio.
Studio view, Mary Crenshaw.
Recent Exhibitions:
Katonah Museum Biennial
Cladogram
July 11 - September 9, 2021
The Painting Center
Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love
Opening July 22, 2021
Sculpture worth craving:
Inner Critic, earthernware painted with engobe and transparent glaze, 35x30x30 cm, 2021; Mary Crenshaw.