RESEARCH
ARTIST MEETING: WITH CHRISTIANA UPDEGRAFF..
Exchanging ideas with Christiana Updegraff
29/07/2021
I had such a fruitful meeting with Christiana Updegraff about her work as part of my re.conceive research.
It was such flowing conversation about our visual depictions of infertility, motherhood and portrayals of the female experience generally.
Bio:
Christiana E. Updegraff, a cross discipline 3-dimensional artist, was born in 1979. She completed her M.F.A. at San Diego State University in 2011. She also received her B.F.A. in 2007 from Kent State University. Christiana has maintained her studio in Los Angeles for the last ten years. She has been creating and exhibiting work nationwide, as well as teaching Fine Art in higher education in Southern California. Christiana’s current body of work is inspired by loss, corporeal deterioration, time, uncertainty, fear, and stagnation. She is particularly engaged with objects of human comfort in conjunction with imagery of emptiness and decay. She uses both traditional metalsmithing and sculpture techniques in combination with non traditional materials to obscure the implications of her chosen media.
Christiana, a sculptor, metalsmith and jewellery artist, works with an entirely different set of materials and processes to myself (although we do both have a love for hair in our art!), maybe that's why I find it so appealing. You cannot help but appreciate the beauty of her craft-making in her intricate pieces; both delicate and strong, often large in scale but made with exquisite detail that requires an intimate moment of looking. Her powerful work draws on ideas of female embodiment, corporeality, loss, longing, and care.
We had such a wonderful exchange, drawing parallels in our work and finding intriguing differences. Super grateful to @aceagrams for funding me to be able to engage closely with other artists and pay them for their time. Really hoping it may lead to future collaborations/exhibitions on this important topic.
"Thank you for having me! Hoping to pair up with you soon on other ventures." (Christiana Updegraff)
It was such flowing conversation about our visual depictions of infertility, motherhood and portrayals of the female experience generally.
Bio:
Christiana E. Updegraff, a cross discipline 3-dimensional artist, was born in 1979. She completed her M.F.A. at San Diego State University in 2011. She also received her B.F.A. in 2007 from Kent State University. Christiana has maintained her studio in Los Angeles for the last ten years. She has been creating and exhibiting work nationwide, as well as teaching Fine Art in higher education in Southern California. Christiana’s current body of work is inspired by loss, corporeal deterioration, time, uncertainty, fear, and stagnation. She is particularly engaged with objects of human comfort in conjunction with imagery of emptiness and decay. She uses both traditional metalsmithing and sculpture techniques in combination with non traditional materials to obscure the implications of her chosen media.
Christiana, a sculptor, metalsmith and jewellery artist, works with an entirely different set of materials and processes to myself (although we do both have a love for hair in our art!), maybe that's why I find it so appealing. You cannot help but appreciate the beauty of her craft-making in her intricate pieces; both delicate and strong, often large in scale but made with exquisite detail that requires an intimate moment of looking. Her powerful work draws on ideas of female embodiment, corporeality, loss, longing, and care.
We had such a wonderful exchange, drawing parallels in our work and finding intriguing differences. Super grateful to @aceagrams for funding me to be able to engage closely with other artists and pay them for their time. Really hoping it may lead to future collaborations/exhibitions on this important topic.
"Thank you for having me! Hoping to pair up with you soon on other ventures." (Christiana Updegraff)
