Workshop

CRYSTAL MOREY | Figural Sculpture | Additive / Subtractive Processes in Porcelain | Demonstration Workshop | September 2019

Join artist Crystal Morey in Figural Sculpture: Additive / Subtractive Processes in Porcelain, a weekend of sculpting demonstrations and conversation, exploring the hand sculpted porcelain figurine coinciding with her solo exhibition Venus on the Waves” at Ferrin Contemporary in nearby, North Adams. Crystal Morey will share her process of creating a figure in hollow form, while adding layers of additive and reductive detail. Crystal will discuss the development of her techniques, proportion, anatomy, and gesture, the importance of water content in porcelain, and creating the delicate details that add content and emotion to her work.

No experience is required. Limited to 20.

Crystal Morey lives and works in Oakland California, where she maintains a full-time studio practice. An emerging artist in both the new contemporary, pop-surrealist genre as well as the art-historical craft and decorative arts arena, Crystal’s work has been featured in numerous books and magazines, shown in galleries and museums, and collected around the world. Morey is known for her hand sculpted, highly detailed porcelain works of human-animal hybrids. She finds her inspiration in art history, Baroque porcelain traditions of Europe and ideas of contemporary environmental issues. Morey creates work with delicate beauty and empathic narratives of today’s rapidly changing ecosystems. Crystal Morey received her BFA in Ceramic Sculpture from the California College of the Arts and her MFA in Spatial Art from San Jose State University. She continues her studies through artists residencies and expansive interests in art history and museum research.

Contact Us

Please email info@projectart01026.com with any questions or for more information. To talk on the phone, please send an email with your phone number and preferred time to receive a call, and we will call you back.

Tuition and Payment

Tuition for the 3 day workshop is $350.
A $50 deposit is due with registration, and the full payment is due by September 1st. Please pay by check or money order, payable to Project Art, 54 Main Street in Cummington, MA, 01026. Open to participants age 18 and above, and students of all experience levels are welcome.

Housing and Meals

Housing and meals are not provided. It is the responsibility of each student to arrange housing and meals independently. We keep a list of possible housing options updated at http://projectart01026.com/lodging/

Location and Dates

Project Art is located at 54 Main Street in Cummington, MA, 01026. The workshop begins Friday 6pm–9pm, continues Saturday from 9am–3pm, and concludes Sunday 9am-12pm.

Travel

Hartford, CT (airport code BDL) and Albany, NY (airport code ALB) are the two closest regional airports. Cummington is a rural community, and we recommend participants rent a car or drive to us. There is no public transportation in the Cummington area. With advance notice, pick up and drop off to the airport can be arranged for $100 per airport pick up (each way).

Cancellation Policy

Deposits are refundable until September 1st, less a $25 administrative fee. After September 1st, we cannot offer a refund unless we are able enroll a replacement from the waiting list. If we are able to replace you with a participant from the waiting list, a full refund will be issued, less a $25 administrative fee. This workshop will run pending a minimum enrollment.

Click HERE for the registration form.

Click HERE  to pay deposit on Eventbrite.

NCECA 2019 GUIDE

This year’s NCECA is taking place in Minneapolis, Minnesota where I will have work in three exhibitions and participate in one panel discussion. I hope to see you there and please join me in these great events!

Antler Gallery at WORKSPACE: 1300 Quincy St NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413. March 26th-31st with an opening reception on Friday March 29th at 6pm.

Veronique Wantz Gallery: “You Am I: A Celebration of Identity”. 901 N 5th St. Minneapolis. March 26th-31st with an opening reception on Friday March 29th 5-9pm. https://www.veroniquewantz.com

Adam ChauBlanca Guerra-EcheverriaCrystal MoreyJohn ByrdKensuke YamadaLinda SwansonMalcom Mobutu SmithNatalia ArbelaezRaheleh FilsoofiSteven Young Lee.

“Looking West”, James Hill House, 240 Summit Ave, St. Paul. Open Wednesday – Sunday, 10-4. Opening reception, Friday March 29th 6-8pm. For inquiry, contact Ferrin Contemporary.

Panel Discussion Thursday 3:30-4:30pm, Auditorium Room 1, Convention Center: “Art and the Anthropocene”. Moderator: Shanna Fliegel, Panelists: Tara Daly, Crystal Morey, Tim Cowdery, and Lisa Truax.
This discussion brings into focus and challenges what in fact is “utopia” and whatde nes it. Is it untouched wilderness, or therevitalization of a forgotten community? What is the artist, educator, scientist, and community organizer’s role in response to the urgency of an unstable planet?

Call for Entry

I am happy to be the guest curator for “Emotional Animal” at Clay Art Center, I hope you will apply!

The Emotional Animal

Clay Art Center’s 2019 national juried exhibition
Deadline April 8, 2019

APPLY NOW

Description

Clay Art Center is happy to announce it’s Call for Entry to “The Emotional Animal”, curated by Crystal Morey.

Animals are our bond to nature and are all around us — they are a part of our daily lives whether in our homes or in the wild. Animal inspirations abound in literature and in the visual arts and are often used anthropomorphically to reveal, reflect and elaborate upon our own human nature. From prehistory to the conceptual works of Damien Hirst’s sharks in tanks, artists have used animals as symbols and sources of inspiration and metaphor. In 2019, Clay Art Center will feature Animal Instinct, a year-long focus that will offer exhibitions, community arts programming and symposia. The third core exhibit in this series of events will be a national juried exhibition entitled “The Emotional Animal” to be curated by California artist, Crystal Morey. Submissions of sculptural works will be judged on the capacity to express human emotion using animal imagery. Works will be displayed at Clay Art Center in Port Chester, NY from July 27 – September 14, 2019. Deadline to apply is April 8, 2019. 

Guest curator Crystal Morey states, “From the beginning of human expression we have found emotional connection and understanding in the world through the animals around us. We see this narrative from early cave painting to animation, primal hunting to genetic engineering, from fierce predators to domestic companions. This theme invites an exploration of the animal kingdom through the artistic voices of today, as an expression of instinct, contemplation, and emotion in our collective experience.” –Crystal Morey

Clay Art Center is a nationally recognized non-profit center for the advancement and practice of ceramic art offering exhibitions, classes for adults and children, studio spaces for clay artists and outreach programs in the community.  It is located in the heart of Port Chester at 40 Beech Street, Port Chester, NY 10573.

Lush Anthesis at Modern Eden Gallery

View the exhibition online HERE!

Modern Eden Gallery,

801 Greenwich Street, San Fransisco, CA

Exhibition Dates: October 13–November 2, 2018

Modern Eden Gallery proudly presents proudly presents the second major solo exhibition by sculptress Crystal Morey at the gallery. Crystal Morey explores ideas of contemporary environmental issues and the ways humans are impacting and changing the natural world. Through the delicacy of porcelain, she investigates these fragile connections and intricate dependencies, creating hybrid creatures of plant, animal and human components.

This collection of new works, “Lush Anthesis”, draws inspiration from 18th century European art history, referencing the decadence, emotion and romance of the time. These sculptures embody the gestures, stylization and whimsy found in the paintings, honed marble statues, and ornate porcelain vessels of the rococo era. Anthesis — being a period of full bloom — these creatures are in a moment of transition, growing, blooming, and evolving.

Each handmade, porcelain element is a celebration of nature, reminding us of the delicacy, magic and beauty found in all things. In these imagined creations, we are reminded of our interwoven lives and habitats, and that all living things rely on each other for the long-term health of our world.

 

 

HEART’ S BLOOD

A BEAUTIFUL BIZARRE CURATION

HAVEN GALLERY

September 16 – October 15, 2017

For inquiries contact: Erica Berkowitz info@havenartgallery.com

CrystalMorey_HeartsBlood_NightingaleandOakl_Iwillmissyoursongwhenyouaregone_03 - 1

Haven Gallery presents a Beautiful Bizarre Magazine curated exhibition. “Heart’s Blood” inspired by the Oscar Wilde fairytale, ‘The Nightingale & the Rose’.

‘The Nightingale and the Rose’ is a romantic and deeply moving story of love and sacrifice. Starting out as all fairy tales do, a man seeking his true love, and a young girl who promises him a dance only if he brings her a red rose. His heart song is heard by the nightingale and the ultimate sacrifice for love is heartbreakingly made, with an equally heartbreaking end.

We wouldn’t be human without our stories of love and loss. Ultimately our existence relies upon drifting into and away from love. We cannot control having hearts that fall deeply and break easily. Love leaves lingering memories and the theme is to explore the dark and romantic with the help of this tragic love story.

Participating Artists:
Adrian Borda, Akiki Ijichi, Amber Carr, Amy Sol, Bella Harris, Caia Koopman, Camilla d’Errico, Carisa Swenson, Chie Yoshii, Ciou, Crystal Morey, Elizabeth McGrath, Emil Melmoth, Emilie Steele, Erika Sanada, Fay Helfer, Forest Rogers, Glenn Arthur, Gretchen Lewis, Hieu Nguyen, Hikari Shimoda, Jasmine Becket-Griffith, Jessica Joslin, Jel Ena, Kari-Lise Alexander, Karly Perez, Kathie Olivas, Kurtis Rykovich, Lana Crooks, Laura Colors, Lori Nelson, Mahlimae, Miho, Miso, Naoto Hattori, Nadezda, Octoplum, Peca, Richard J Oliver, Scott Radke, Sheri DeBow, Tracy Lewis, Virginie Ropars, Yoko d’Holbachie, Young Chun, Zoe Lacchei.

CrystalMorey_HeartsBlood_NightingaleandOakl_Iwillmissyoursongwhenyouaregone_01 - 1CrystalMorey_HeartsBlood_NightingaleandOakl_Iwillmissyoursongwhenyouaregone_02 - 1CrystalMorey_HeartsBlood_NightingaleandOakl_Iwillmissyoursongwhenyouaregone_04 - 1

 

 

Tempered Beasts

NORTHERN CLAY CENTERCrystalMorey_Entangled Wonders_Diana with Doe_01 - 1

SEPTEMBER 22 – NOVEMBER 5
Opening reception: Friday, October 20, 6 pm – 8 pm

Tempered Beasts will explore expressions of the human condition through the use of animal imagery. Animals permeate the ceramic lexicon in both contemporary practice and throughout history—from cave paintings to garden protectors, visceral sculptures to playful vessels. Our relationship with animal beings is complicated as their role in our collective experience shifts from food source to family member, wild creature to domesticated friend. Humans determine the value placed on life—whether of our planet or its inhabitants—while often discounting our own animal instincts. The artists included in Tempered Beasts wrestle with questions of consumption, commodification, and identification by creating animal forms that capture the very essence of what makes us human—and animal. Participating artists include: Alessandro Gallo, Crystal Morey, Lindsay Pichaske, Adriel Tong, and Russell Wrankle.

CrystalMorey_Entangled Wonders_Diana with Doe_02 - 1CrystalMorey_New Symbiosis_Planting New Seeds_03 - 1CrystalMorey_New Symbiosis_Pronghorn_03 - 1CrystalMorey_Entangled Wonders- A Vision of the Present and Future - 1CrystalMorey_Entangled Wonder- Reclining Mule Deer with New Mollusk Growth - 1

CeramATTACK II

DUANE REED GALLERY

For inquiries please contact gallery director: Duane Reed duane@duanereedgallery.com

September 7 — October 14CrystalMorey_New Symbiosis-Brown Bear with New Growth_04 - 1

Duane Reed Gallery invites you to CeramATTACK II, a ceramic invitational exhibition that boasts trending innovations in contemporary ceramics.

With motivations beyond pure form and function, the selected artists fuse contemporary aesthetics with a traditional art form. The clay bodies act more as canvases for further creative exploration through a multidisciplinary approach. Included in this exhibition is a diverse and eclectic group of top tier talent, with each artist offering their unique voice and vision to the collective history of ceramics. The manifestations of this creative vision expresses itself in many ways; whether it is the photographic ceramic hybrid masterpieces of Peter Olson, or the sensual and stoic figures of Crystal Morey whose level of technical mastery is unparalleled.

Challenging the traditional and established view of ceramics, the second installment of CeramATTACK offers a collection of works that allow the viewer to explore both narrative and form in a myriad of imaginative and unconventional approaches that both provoke and inspire

Featuring sculptures by: Crystal Morey – Arny Nadler – Peter Olson – Kyungmin Park – Zemer Peled – Chris Riccardo – Cheryl Ann ThomasCrystalMorey_Ceramattack_NewSymbiosis-CrowwithNewGrowth_01 - 1

Missoula Independent

Crystal Morey creates a new mythology of the West at Radius Gallery 

This month’s show at the Radius Gallery, Compositions, is an incredibly curated collection of work by four artists that creates a space reminiscent of the magical woods in a fairytale. The trees are free-standing sculptures by Trey Hill, washed with layers of thinned underglaze and water that’s been allowed to run and blend in greens and blues. Catherine Earl’s large depictions of geese and foxes make deep shadows even as their forms, in blue-gray washes and light paint splatters, evoke fresh, dense air.

The characters in this storied place are introduced by two artists: Jennifer Eli French of Billings and Crystal Morey of Oakland. French’s dreamlike Renaissance-style portraits of animal-human hybrids are stern but colorful. She plays with images of twins, burning houses, tigers in lady’s gowns and women with Miller moth crowns.

Three enchanting pieces by Morey are set on pedestals around the room. They are visually captivating white porcelain figurines depicting hybrids of human and animal bodies. There’s a bust of a woman with antlers, her delicate face directed to stare into your own. Two female-bodied nudes with long, delicately rendered fingers recline in languid postures, each topped with the full bulk of an oversized animal head: One a bison, the other a fox, whose pointed fur flattens and transforms into light foliage creeping down her belly.

These sculptures are nostalgic of the fantasy novels I buried myself in as a kid in eastern Montana. Talking animals, fairies and fauns—I used to pray to God for a pegasus. These stories captivated me, out there on the dry prairie. Our most interesting wildlife was the invisible bobcat, and, while we regularly rode horses, it was almost always to work cows in the heat of August or dead-cold of winter. I lived for the moment that my dad’s sway-backed bay, Bill, would turn to me and ask my help in his escape.

This yearning dominated my childhood but became tragic when I grew up and realized the effect humans like myself have on real creatures. Morey works to reveal that tragedy by putting endangered animals’ heads on human bodies. “I want us to visualize ourselves as another species and how that would feel,” she says. “If that were the case, would we treat the land around us differently? Would we be more aware of our actions?”

In her early work, Morey concentrated on depicting animals made extinct by human influence since the Industrial Revolution, such as the Western Black Rhino and Baiji river dolphin. Her animal vocabulary has expanded since then, and she now looks more generally at animal species most affected by human activity, even if they aren’t technically endangered.

Her choice to use Western animals in these particular pieces works well to spark that empathy. Because these animals are familiar, the story feels present here, as our dry mountain ranges burn and fill the valley with smoke. Each human body in her sculptures seems like a curse on the animal, posing a narrative in which people like us are made to reckon with the damage we’ve done.

The bison, depicted in her piece, “New Symbiosis: North American Bison,” is a part of the great American mythology; we came, we saw, we took. We gathered our guns and our men killed millions of them, piling their skulls into towering pyramids to plant a booted foot onto and pose, stoney faced, for a photograph.

That animal is more of this land than we are, but seen so rarely it’s almost like a magical beast. The breathless effort to bring the bison back ironically seals the deal that humans continue to be at the helm of their survival. This is the symbiosis in the piece’s title—the strange new relationship between us and the animal world.

Morey says she finds it interesting that nature, and how we relate to it, is depicted consistently throughout art history. Think of deer and stallions in Renaissance paintings, Van Gogh’s trees and even Andy Warhol’s “Silver Clouds.” (Though they were shiny foil, he was thinking of the natural world.)

Crystal Morey’s mythical creatures are quiet and lovely but they resonate in a big way. Compositions centers on a magical universe, but at the heart of it, the pieces force us to think about human nature and reckon with the decisions we have made in the real world.

Compositions continues at the Radius Gallery through September 23.

Abmeyer + Wood

Morey.Postcard.Front

I am so happy to share Entangled Wonders, a new collection of work on view with Abmeyer +Wood! The exhibition is so lovely, if you find yourself in Seattle, please stop by! Also find the work available online.

Crystal Morey’s ability to sculpt porcelain is remarkable. She draws inspiration from Egyptian, Greek, and Roman deities and Native American creation stories that result in her exquisitely sculpted animal-human hybrids. Morey’s sculpture illustrates the interdependency between human and animal worlds and the delicate balance necessary to sustain this bond.

Abmeyer + Wood, 1210 2nd Ave. Seattle, Wa
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CrystalMorey_A Rock in Swift Waters- California Bighorn - 1CrystalMorey_A Rock in Swift Waters- Brown Bear - 1CrystalMorey_A Rock in Swift Waters- Bison with Mollusks - 1 cmorey_press_010 - 1CrystalMorey_Entangled Wonders_Interconnected Fate - 5CrystalMorey_Entangled Wonders_Lynx - 4cmorey_press_012 - 1CrystalMorey_Return to Nature- Black Tailed Deer - 1 (2)CrystalMorey_White Tailed Jackrabbit - 1 (2)CrystalMorey_White Tailed Jackrabbit - 1 (5)CrystalMorey_Sierra Nevada Red Fox - 1CrystalMorey_Sierra Nevada Red Fox - 1 (3)CrystalMorey_Oregon Pronghorn - 2CMorey_Peregrine Falcon with Pacific Coast Mollusk Symbiosis - 1CMorey_EntangledWonders_GreyWolf - 1 (1)

Entangled Wonders, Solo Exhibition

Entangled Wonders – Abmeyer + Wood

1210 2nd Avenue Seattle WA 98101

March 2nd through April 1st 2017

Open: Monday – Saturday, 11am – 6pm

Morey.Postcard.Front

In our time, humankind has become the driving influence and force behind natural evolution, with the ability to alter life from a single cell all the way up to entire ecosystems. Through these actions we are leaving vulnerable species and habitats frantic, facing disruptions and uncertain outcomes. In my work I explore these ideas while also creating an evocative and mysterious narrative that shows our interdependence with the land and animals around us.

“Entangled Wonders” explores an imaginary landscape expanding a dialogue of climate change, the manipulation of evolutionary processes, and where our actions may lead. In this new land, a great shift has unfolded and we find the earth in a state of imbalance. In order to continue, humans and animals have become one, intricately and physically bound together, dependent on each other with a new ability to restore natural life. This alternate world reminds us of our connection to the plants and animals around us, that we are all part of one interwoven ecosystem, supporting and growing together for the long-term health of our world.

Sculpted from the silken white earth of porcelain, I see these delicate figures as containing power, as modern talismans and precious telling objects. They see a heightened vision of human influence in the natural world and are here to remind us of our current trajectory and the precarious dependencies we all share.