Cristen Velliky:  Artists Statement

 I have been creating artwork that blurs the line between sculpture and craft, and I continue to mix materials that create new avenues for examination.  A common thread within my work is the commitment to processes and materials, as it is the combination of both that fuels my desire to make art.

My work continually strives to combine the new and the old within a seamless composition.  I am compelled to create work that is in response to the awe I experience when confronting everyday materials; whether it is a worn stone, rusted steel, scratched glass or weathered wood. It is this devotion to examining the materials of our daily environment that binds me to the pursuit of making objects.

This current series of work is derived from the memory of place, and I have been recently drawn to the personal, romanticized imagery of landscape and those physical attributes which frame our memories of a particular location.  In this new work, I am attempting to interject memory and personal sentiment into what could be construed as a mundane or ordinary locale.  It is my hope that the materials I work with (specifically cast glass and porcelain) can portray the atmospheric and romantic qualities that I associate with “memory”, and that this work will allow the viewer a glimpse into a private remembrance of landscape.

In this most recent series I have included inhabitants within the landscape- specifically birds. They offer a new perspective for the work, and provide a poignant stressor- I find them silently communicating to each other, often contemplating the environment in which they have placed and the fate of their future.

Detailed GalleryExhibit List and Collections available upon request