Kristine Mays - Wire Sculptor Titelbild

Kristine Mays - Wire Sculptor

Kristine Mays - Wire Sculptor

Jetzt kostenlos hören, ohne Abo

Details anzeigen

Über diesen Titel

 Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, Emily features San Francisco wire sculptor Kristine Mays discussing her politically charged exhibition "State of the Union" at Modernism Gallery. Created in response to the uncertainty and division at the beginning of 2025, the show explores themes of American identity, social justice, and individual responsibility through intricate wire sculptures.Kristine walks through several powerful pieces: "This is America," a frayed wire American flag with beads representing blood and tears; "Human Complacency," depicting the see/hear/speak no evil concept; and "Modern Day Lynchings and Hashtag Memorials," featuring hand-embroidered names of Black people killed by police on silk ribbons. Many works incorporate quotes from writers like Audre Lord, whose words "your silence will not save you" inspired Mays to create this body of work as both political statement and personal healing.She traces her creative journey from childhood craft projects with her mother to her current practice working with construction-grade wire. She explains how she creates faceless figures and sculptural garments that allow viewers to project their own stories and recognize loved ones through gesture alone. The meditative quality of working with wire and its durability appeal to her desire to create lasting legacy work.A major milestone: the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture recently acquired her piece "Hush Harbor." Kristine, who has participated in San Francisco Open Studios for over 20 years, credits her "divinely led" journey and her mother's early encouragement to create without fear of failure.About Artist Kristine Mays :Kristine Mays, a San Francisco native has been an exhibiting artist since 1993. She was the Grand Finale Winner in 2015 of the 5th Annual Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series National Competition. This competition not only provided an opportunity to exhibit her work at Art Basel Miami, but she had a solo exhibition at the Scope NYC Art Fair as well, and was also afforded a chance to collaborate on a large scale public mural. Her mural is on the side of the Boom Boom Room in San Francisco on Fillmore and Geary Streets. (It has large wire feathers placed among the portraits that adorn the walls, reflecting the fleeting existence of black jazz musicians in San Francisco.) In 2015 she also participated in the Hearts in San Francisco program, creating a large 400 pound heart for their annual public art installation. The heart spent a few weeks on display in Union Square before going to its final home upon purchase from AT&T.In 2009, Kristine was a featured artist in the San Francisco Art Commission's "Art in Storefronts" pilot program, a project which transformed vacant storefronts and commercial corridors into a destination for contemporary art, bringing a new energy to the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood. A participant in the San Francisco Open Studios program for over 20 years, Kristine has also served on the Board of Directors for ArtSpan-- the Producers of SF Open Studios and has participated on several of their committees. Kristine served as the 2011-2013 artist-in-residence at the Bayview Hunters Point Shipyard in San Francisco. She is a graduate of Lowell High School, received her Bachelor Degree in Arts Administration from DePaul University and has occasionally served as a grant review panelist through the San Francisco Arts Commission.Seeking to create impact and change with her art, Kristine has participated in raising thousands of dollars for AIDS research through the sale of her work by collaborating with organizations like Visual Aid, the San Francisco Alliance Health Project and WE-Actx. Her work has received local and national press including mentions in the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, The New York Post, The Washington Post, Source Magazine, Artsy, and the interior design blog Apartment Therapy. She is represented by Simon Breitbard Fine Arts in SF, the Richard Beavers Gallery in Brooklyn and Zenith Gallery in Washington DC.Kristine has participated in programming at the De Young Museum, Museum of African Diaspora (MoAD) and exhibited at the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Los Angeles, CA. Collectors of her work include an eclectic mix of people including Star Wars creator George Lucas and the dearly departed Peggy Cooper Cafritz (who amassed one of the country’s largest private collections of African-American art). Her work is displayed in many Bay Area homes and private collections throughout the USA.Visit Kristine's Website: KristineMays.comFollow Kristine on Instagram: @KristineMaysFor more about Kristine's exhibit, "State of the Union" CLICK HERE--About Podcast Host Emily Wilson:Emily a writer in San Francisco, with work in outlets including Hyperallergic, Artforum, 48 Hills, the Daily Beast, California ...
Noch keine Rezensionen vorhanden