Meet Christopher Wormald | Photographer & Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christopher Wormald and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christopher, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Growing up, I was a little eccentric for my family and I didn’t know where I fit in. Art was a way for me to express my ideas and feelings since I didn’t really know how to communicate them. At a young age I realized I was good at creative things. Art and music fulfilled me, they gave me a sense of purpose and belonging in the world. I went on to study photography and sculpture at the university level and in 2012 I graduated from CSULB with a BFA in sculpture. That same year, I interned at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions as an art preparator and photographer. My creative practice and business came about organically and gradually through professional opportunities and personal referrals over the years. The connections that I made at the university and from LACE led to work photographing and filming art exhibition and performances; art handling, packing and crating; and custom fabrication and construction. Through word of mouth and outreach, I’ve been able to build my business and art practice to where it is today.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Please tell us more about your art. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

I am a multi-disciplinary artist who works with photography, video, installation and sound. Many of the themes in my art deal with the impact of technology on humanity and the fragility of memory. Since the early 2000’s I have been fascinated with technological “glitches” and optical distortions. These are subjects that have significantly influenced my creative process and aesthetic over the years.

My work is often exhibited at a large scale or encompasses whole environments. For example, in 2019 I was commissioned for Arvia LA’s “Pass The Stick” exhibition at Spring/Break LA. There, I created an ambient, atmospheric soundtrack with field recordings and music compositions to form an audio portrait of my time living in Cypress Park. This piece played throughout the space at select, intermittent times during the duration of the exhibition. In 2021, I exhibited a photography series titled, “A Year After The Storm” at Nashville’s Bordeaux Branch Library. This installation artistically documented the devastating March 3, 2020 tornado’s path, precisely one year later.

Currently I am working on a project titled “Y.O.U. + A.I. = A.I.M” at Grand Central Art Center in Santa Ana. “A.I.M.” began in September, 2022, as a wheat-pasted mural of A.I. generated images and has evolved in scale and content. The following is an excerpt from the statement:

“YOU + A.I. = A.I.M. delves into humanity’s relationship to technology and its revolutionary, mundane, or destructive impact on the world. This project is an ever-expanding series depicting past, present, and future imagined scenarios through the lens of A.I.-generated images. Portrayed are visions of utopia and dystopia: a future in which humans no longer struggle or are replaced and made irrelevant.“

As an artist, I am excited and motivated to learn and work with new-media and to explore themes around humanity’s relationship to technology and our evolving landscape. The process of creating and collaborating with others brings me joy and keeps me grounded. I feel very fortunate to have met so many inspirational and supportive people throughout my career.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We will have to pretend like time, distance and traffic doesn’t exist and start our morning with coffee from Go Get Em Tiger, breakfast at HomeState and then head on over to Soap Plant Wacko for some weird souvenirs. If the weather is nice, a brief walk around the Hollywood Reservoir and taking in views of the city from the Hollywood Sign is always fun. A great alternative is to hike around Elysian Park or Griffith Park up to the Observatory. To cool off on a hot day, I’d head on down to Van Leeuwen Ice Cream in Silverlake and take the Swan boats out on Echo Park Lake. Sometimes it rains in LA and in that case I’d play some records at Mount Analog and check out art at The Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo. Before heading off to lunch, we gotta stop by Popkiller to grab an iconic graphic tee. Now, for lunch we’re either having the Heights Deli, Guisados or Dune because I’ll be craving one of those. By now it’s the early afternoon and there’s plenty of time to walk around the Art’s District and take scooters over the 6th Street Viaduct (kinda kidding but not kidding). If my friend was a synth nerd we’d spend the whole afternoon at Perfect Circuit before having dinner at Pine and Crane. From there we we head over to have drinks at Salazar while we wait for Zebulon’s doors to open. Whatever bizarre, experimental performance we ended up at is probably enough to dip out early and head on up to Mt. Wilson Observatory for some cautious driving and stargazing.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the many supportive and inspirational people I’ve met along the way. I owe my success to a long list of individuals and if I wasn’t restricted by length, I’d share the whole story.

When I was just out of university I was accepted into an internship at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, which was pivotal for me. There I was given the knowledge and experience working in a multidisciplinary art gallery in the heart of Hollywood where I honed my skills as an art installer and was given the opportunity to photograph artwork, exhibitions and performances. Robert Crouch, former Associate Director/Curator at LACE and current Executive and Artistic Director at Fulcrum Arts, has made a significant impact in my artistic and professional life over the years. Not only did he introduce me to many artists, curators and creative professionals but continues to hire and trust me to lead documentation on a myriad of Fulcrum Arts’ projects. With a professional relationship going back 11 years, it’s hard to imagine I’d be where I am today without Robert Crouch and my internship at LACE.

Website: https://christopherwormald.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christopher.s.w/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cswormald/

Other: Photo Website: https://christopherwphoto.com

Image Credits
Photo of me on stage playing guitar taken by: Cory Woodruff