writing

CRISTIAN ANDERSSON, ARTIST (APPLETON)

October 11, 2018

Period 6

Room 221

(not open to the public)

click image to enlarge

BIO

Cristian Andersson is an artist working in Appleton, Wisconsin. While much of his work tends towards abstract painting, he believes that the medium must fit the message and will experiment with installation and performance based mechanisms to craft what is necessary to deliver his thoughts to the audience. His years at Columbia College in Chicago studying painting and performance, and then later graduating from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay with a number of photography and printmaking courses, allowed him the platform to begin his multi-disciplinary approach.

It is through this work that he wants the audience to assess the passage of time. Question our collective past, what is remembered and forgotten, and, ultimately, how we use our history to reconcile new opportunities afforded to us through modernity. With every sea-change in our society, Andersson asks for us to consider what it does to our humanity.

SCRIPTORIUM STATEMENT

The contemporary nature of “breaking news” is that it is pervasive. It is invasive. It is an onslaught. And, it can be addictive.

Newspapers and network television have always been sources of insight, but now with the infiltration of the news into social media and alerts presented by mobile devices, I have become constantly aware of the next social or political concern that I “have to deal with.” Maybe you feel this also. Thankfully, there is the ability to lightly skim through social media. Multi-task while the television is on, and temporarily push the storylines into the background. And yet, it is hard to completely shut out.

This work asks what happens when I do the opposite of tuning out and instead completely submerse myself into the unpredictable current of my Twitter feed and news alerts. I ask myself what are the opinions, and what are facts? I question the mechanisms of deliverance. And then, ultimately, wonder how unpredictable any of this really is. This work is the product of six months of forced inundation, and it hopes to answer what the weight of all this information looks like, and possibly hints what the impact has been upon me – and perhaps you too.

Welcome to the “Scriptorium.”

Gallery

Images courtesy of the artist.

We are thrilled to announce that Kim Nugent is our ninth artist in residence (AiR) at Sheboygan North High School. She is our Fall 2018 Air artist.

The 2018-2019 Artist in Residency Program is supported by a grant from the Wisconsin Art Education Association and Kohler Foundation, Inc.

About Kim

Kim’s method of journaling often involves utilizing a picture as a starting point to spark an idea. She chooses photos that she both likes and surprisingly, dislikes. Her purpose is to develop ideas, explore techniques, and to push her creativity. Working this way jumpstarts her imagination, rendering a visual journal page that would have been hard to conceive using merely a blank sheet of paper.

“Visual journaling has become something that I feel compelled to do. It helps me to be calm, centered and focused. Through visual journaling I express myself with or without words. In my journals: I experiment with different mediums and techniques; document important events or simple daily happenings; express my thoughts and feelings; draw, paint or collage. I have no rules. ” – Kim Nugent