Meet Christina Massey | Artist

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

Hi Christina, what role has risk played in your life or career?
As an artist, often the biggest risk you can take is to change things up. To do something different, experiment and stray from what you are known for or has been selling well but perhaps not fulfilling you creatively. Some artists get pigeonholed into one style or series and feel immense pressure to continue making the same thing over and over again, especially if it has been commercially successful.

How well art sells is not the only measurement of success however. There are many other ways to value the work from its critical success to public response.

I think it’s really important for artists to take these risks, to trust your gut and make the work that you are passionate about, despite what outside influences might think. Some of the biggest jumps in my career have happened after these moments, when I took the risk to do something completely different and unexpected. Early in my career I was a painter, but it was when I began to remove those paintings from their stretcher bars and turn them into sculptures and installations that I all of a sudden got my first solo shows. Then when I decided to change up my materials from canvas and textiles to largely repurposed aluminum and found objects, my work began winning awards alongside exhibition opportunities. In essence, risks have been crucial to my artistic development and career.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I make works that address issues of our environment from the general need for preservation of nature to climate based disasters. I draw connections of these experiences to our everyday consumer choices and address the often conflicting emotions that occur while living through these changes to our environment. I am very interested in moments such as enjoying an abnormally warm winter day or gorgeous brilliant sunset, that is tinged with the guilt and knowledge of what is causing this phenomenon.

There are a lot of artists that use repurposed materials and address issues of Climate Change, what sets me apart is a duality of experience. There is a sharp yet softness to my work, alluring, yet intimidating. The material that shows up most often in my work is repurposed aluminum cans sourced from craft breweries. I choose this particular material for several reasons. One example is the added layer of meaning by using a material stereotypically associated with male consumption that highlights the use of the word “craft.” I am essentially feminizing these beer cans by creating floral and botanical abstractions. At the same time, I am critiquing the art world itself for its history of devaluing craft as a feminine art form.

I am currently living my dream. I have an amazing studio just blocks from my home, a great supportive art community and steadily exhibiting and have received recognition for my work. It has been a long difficult journey to get here however. I am the daughter of a highschool math teacher and a nurse, and grew up in a small town in Northern California where even to this day, when I go to visit and people ask what I do for a living, the most common response is “how did that happen?” Drive and perseverance is my answer, I never gave up and have worked incredibly hard to get to where I am now. I had zero connections and no financial support. I had to earn and fight for every opportunity and when that wasn’t enough, create them for myself.

It’s this, the creation of opportunities when there were none that I credit as the key to my success. By becoming someone who was proactive, it expanded my community, it uplifted not only my own career but others too in the process. I would highly encourage anyone in the Arts to take this step and become the organizer of an event, be that an exhibition or neighborhood open studios etc, you will learn so much from the process and become a better artist for having done it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If in LA: (while I do not live in LA, I have family there and come to visit about once a year, usually staying and exploring a different part of town each time, but these are some favorites during each visit.)

Have to eat at Sage in Echo Park, their vegan pizza is incredible!
Patricia Sweetow Gallery is always a must see, I love everything she shows.
The Contemporary Craft Museum, also always a must see
Culver City to browse the galleries and point out the ironic very commercial looking Roberta’s (compared to the original Brooklyn location, it’s very funny for any NYer to see!)
And of course, one of my favorite things to do in LA is taking advantage of the amazing hikes. One favorite has been the Murphy Range Backbone Trail at Will Rogers State Park with its unique history and graffiti covering everything, makes for an artistic hike.

If in NYC:
If someone is coming to visit in NY, I like to cater their tour to their tastes, but I always make sure to include a variety of experiences such as:
A cocktail at sunset at a rooftop bar
At least 1 ferry ride, usually from Brooklyn to Manhattan or vice versa, perhaps to Governors Island if in the summer
At least once walking over a bridge, usually the Brooklyn Bridge as it’s most iconic
At least one night out to comedy, music or theater at a smaller venue, not MSG or Broadway, but more intimate alternative spaces
And of course hitting at least one of the many gallery districts if not more!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to the late Charlotte Mouquin who granted me some of my first exhibition opportunites in NYC and took a chance on me and my work.

Website: https://www.cmasseyart.com/

Instagram: @cmasseyart

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cmasseyart

Image Credits
Images courtesy of the artist.