Crystal Kingston

As a young girl with a sewing machine, I wouldn't have thought to call what I was making "art." It only occurred to me later that my practice of constructing three-dimensional objects from flat pieces of colored cloth was providing valuable training for what would occupy me for the rest of my life.

As a fine art major at Queens College during the 80s, my chosen emphasis on sculpture shifted towards 2-D after learning color theory. I supplemented my training by pursuing a minor in textiles, and attending Procion workshops at the FashionInstitute of Technology. Learning about dyes led to an apprenticeship and lengthy collaboration with a local batik artist.

I eventually left the city in order to return to my Montana roots, rekindling my relationship with the mountains and rivers of my youth. In 1999, my artist partner and I purchased an abandoned hundred-year old stone building on the Salish Kootenai Reservation, channeling our creativity into a giant, ongoing "sculpture" project. For a number of years, the "Wild Plum Station"served our community as a meeting hall, restaurant and pub, with music on weekends and monthly rotating art exhibits.

I attended the UofMin Missoula for Media Arts From 2010 –2014. My recent work reflects my interest in merging contemporary methods and materials with traditional ones. It represents not only the challenge of synthesizing media and finding unity, but how to infuse my imagery with interpretations of what matters to me most; especially my love for the land and the creatures we share it with. Surface texture, subject, color, dimension and form are all technical concerns which may be worked out, while still being completely inadequate to the task of suggesting our multiplicity. I want to convey our complexity and the intricacies of our world, while revealing our connection to nature. My hope is that embedded within my work,perhaps in some quality of line or brush stroke or inherent in the themes I choose, at least a hint of the ineffable has been evoked. Beauty's presence continues to move me.

I'm reminded of the alchemists' attempts to turn lead into gold. Though the goal remains elusive, much can be learned.And though my muse's whispers far outpace my abilities to express them, I suspect this is a good thing in the end, since it keeps me returning to the studio. It's a job I can never finish.