Today we’d like to introduce you to Margie Criner.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I remember spending time in my father’s wood shop in the basement of our house, just outside Detroit. At about six years old, I snuck downstairs and made a walkie talkie out of a block of pine, a nail, and some paint. It was my first unsupervised attempt at using my father’s tools. I remember feeling nervous, but that was overridden by my desire to use my imagination to build something three dimensional that was functional as a toy on my own.
I grew up building with Legos, drawing, quietly observing the world around me and trying to recreate aspects of it in small scale. As a child, my family members would tell me I would grow up to be an architect. They were kind of right I guess. I studied graphic design in high school, textile design in college, and woodworking later. Along with a variety of jobs in small business, it all prepared me for my work as an artist. I use lessons I learned throughout life, from watching my grandfather sew up a toy I tore to a furniture building class I took when I was 30. I can be working on a sculpture, pause, think to myself, ‘Whoa. I learned this on that trip my family took in 1977.’
Please tell us about your art.
I build wood sculptures that surround miniature narrative sculptures. The interior stories are viewed through a portal or window in the larger piece and are illuminated with LEDs. Miniature themes revolve around the ‘everyday’ and ‘banal’, like waiting, commuting, hotel hallways, swimming pool vacations, escapism, shopping, etc. Abstract exterior shapes, although loosely related to the interior, are informed by architecture, midcentury furniture, and 1960’s sci-fi.
A background in textile design, graphic design, and woodworking allows me to combine storytelling with object making. My hope is to make work that is inviting from a distance while enticing the viewer to lean in closer for a more intimate experience. The idea of combining different perspectives comes from my childhood. My father was an engineer. He taught to problem-solve by examining things from multiple viewpoints. That lessoned shaped the way I do everything.
When I complete a work, I often gain a better understanding regarding some aspect of myself and the world around me. From what I understand of others that engage in my work, there is a universal connection but it is personal for each viewer. For example, I made a piece that features subway commuters. Every person has a different experience when it comes to commuting, whether it’s a daily ritual, short term way to travel, stressful, exciting, time to read the paper, etc. We all experience the act of commuting at the same time as others, but we all have our own perspective on it. I want viewers to relate to my work, but insert their own stories, to feel their own emotional connections.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
My work is a way of processing everything happening the world around me. I think powerful relevant art can inspire change. I often see more of what I’m processing in my work after I have completed a piece. I try to avoid making heavy handed work. I don’t want to make ‘one-liner’ work either. If the sculpture is informed by current events, it may not be completely obvious to the viewer.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My next sculpture exhibition is at Firecat Projects in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. That show opens Friday, June 29, 2018. I also have a studio just west of Logan Square at 4200 W Diversey Ave in Chicago that has a small showroom. The building my studio is in used to be a Hammond Organ manufacturing building that is now full of artists and entrepreneurs. There are weekend events there once a month, and my space opens its doors during these exhibitions. My showroom is open by appointment. Instagram has up to date and in progress pics at @margiecriner, Facebook at www.facebook.com/mcrinerstudio.
Did I mention that I paint when I’m not building sculptures? I have a 2D show of my architecturally informed work next month at Fermi Lab in Batavia, Illinois. That show opens at May 25th.
In 2019, I will be exhibiting in the gallery at Northeastern Illinois University on the north side of Chicago and at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, CO. I also exhibit work at The Red Arrow Gallery in Nashville and Terzian Galleries in Park City.
Contact Info:
- Address: Workshop 4200
4200 W Diversey Ave
Suite 29
Chicago, Illinois - Website: http://www.mcriner.com
- Phone: 773-306-8030
- Email: mcriner@mail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/margiecriner/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mcrinerstudio/
Image Credit:
Margie Criner
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