Today we’d like to introduce you to Gillian Christy.
Christy was born in Iowa in 1979. She attended the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, IA, receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2002. Setting her sights towards the East Coast she moved to Providence, RI in 2003. Since her work is greatly influenced by her surroundings, the sculpted Mid-West farming implements soon transformed into sculpted New England clapboards and cobbled streets. Christy has focused on creating artwork based on the familiar objects that one may view through their daily travels. In her work she sets out to express the interconnectedness between home, nature, and one another.
While she creates artwork to beautify one’s home or garden, she also has over a decade of experience in creating outdoor sculptures and privately commissioned art works. The large scale work ranges in complexities, adding sculpture to a smokestack to freestanding work that weighs more than two tons. Each of these projects required teams of people to produce. With previous public art projects, Christy created artworks that express the local community and environment in which they are located. “Wave Traveler” commissioned in 2009, embodies water, waves, motion and energy, illustrating how both water and sound waves can be “connectors”. Likewise, in 2008, the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council commissioned “The Return Home” which acted as both an important monument for the river, as well as an educational tool combining the usage of text about the river’s history. In 2010 Pathways in Fitchburg, MA was commissioned to celebrate the entrance to downtown. Throughout the planning of public works Christy finds that connecting the community to the artwork can create powerful results.
Christy’s work is in permanent collections such as Somerby’s Landing Sculpture Park, Newburyport, MA, T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, RI, The Genesis Health Services and Illini Foundation in Bettendorf, IA, as well as The Hearst Center for the Arts in Cedar Falls, IA. Numerous sculptural works have also been created for the corporate environment. Permanent sculptures are located at the front entrance of AC Hotel Cambridge in Cambridge, MA and in the penthouse suite of W Hotel in Boston, MA. Imagery of Christy’s sculpture have appeared in the movie Central Intelligence as well as on television for the NFL on CBS, The Apprentice and Gravity Games.
Christy is an alumni member of the Boston Sculptors Gallery where she exhibits gallery work regularly. She resides in Boston with her family.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Figuring out a new process towards making art can be challenging. I have always been an artist and as a young student I used tools such as a pencil, brush, or clay. But in 1998 as a freshman in college, I picked up a MIG welder gun for the first time and learned how to weld. Growing up, I had never even mowed our lawn so working with power tools was all new to me. Welding is like baking 3 different kinds of cookies using an oven you’ve never used before with ingredients that go together differently. There are lots of key ingredients that need to be mixed together, so thinking ahead is very important and temperature affects everything. Welding is not something I dreamed of doing the rest of my life. But the material, metal, certainly sparked my interest.
Please tell us about Gillian Christy Studio.
Most recently, I have been working to create small sculptures, a contrast to the large-scale works that I have created in the past. After looking through my photo library, I notice that I am continually delighted by miniature scaled objects. “Course” is a series of stainless steel sculptures which incorporate concepts that center around pathways, growth, connectors and movement. For instance, I think of the brick sidewalks in my neighborhood, the South End, and the way the roots make some of the brick sidewalks appear as a wave. I capture that sort of everyday life with imagination in a piece titled “Fence Roadway.” It is interesting to think that by just sculpting with one material, plain old sheet metal, an array of ideas can come to life.
Available for sale at http://www.bostonsculptors.com/alumni-associate-gillian-christy-1/.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
My fascination with miniature artwork has led to a shift in focus and I am now creating bronze castings. Casting in bronze means that multiple pieces can be cast and sold. I believe I would have explored new ideas with my artistic work had I experimented with this medium earlier. While I plan to continue with fabrication work, I have found joy in exploring and capturing the beauty and mystery found in the seasonal growth of a budding plant such as “Tulip Bulb” captured in bronze. The flexibility to create new organic forms has been wonderful.
Available for sale at www.etsy.com/shop/GillianChristy
Pricing:
- “Fence Roadway” – from Course Series: $1,200.00
- “Tulip Bulb” – from Bronze Castings: $380.00
- Commission Range – Typical Job Cost: $5,000 – $60,000
Contact Info:
- Address: 11 Humphreys Street
Dorchester, MA 02125 - Website: www.gillianchristy.com
- Phone: 401-862-9426
- Email: info@gillianchristy.com
- Instagram: http://www.bostonsculptors.com/alumni-associate-gillian-christy-1/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/GillianChristyStudio
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/gillianchristy
- Yelp: https://www.houzz.com/pro/gillianchristy/gillian-christy-studio
- Other: www.etsy.com/shop/GillianChristy
Image Credit:
Karen Philippi, Gillian Christy, John Roe
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