Hi, I'm Crystal!

I am an artist, handy woman, dog mom, and crazy plant lady. Kansas born and bred, I feel my creative impulses have been supported (maybe not understood) from a young age. Raised in a blue collar household, I believe working with your hands is just what I was bred to do to survive. I went to school in a small Swedish community where traditional folk art and dance were a part of my earliest artistic influences. The rich art and music environment of my youth continues to inspire some of my aesthetic habits and pattern making, and my blue collar blood has a strong influence on my love for process based making.

 

During my undergraduate degree I pursued printmaking after trying all the other things and just fell in love with the endless possibilities. After completing my BFA, I was accepted for an internship at the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York. During that time my interest and passion for silkscreen was confirmed and after moving back home to Kansas I worked in the silkscreen industry for most of a decade. Silkscreen drawing and painting became my primary mode of art making during this time. Beyond printmaking I have always explored other ways to immerse myself in the creative community and find ways to express my ideas. For a number of years I took up performance art by training and teaching partner acrobatics with a small family run circus troupe, busking and traveling to regional performances. This became another way to create and engage community members around my art practice.