Colleen Critcher
Colleen Critcher is a visual artist fascinated by commodity culture, kitsch, and plastic things. Her artworks obsessively explore images of mystical garden gnomes, unicorns, and dinosaur figures as she investigates the powerful significance of seemingly menial images revealed in contemporary life.
Colleen Critcher holds an M.F.A. in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design. After a decade of university teaching and gallery administration, she currently maintains a painting and printmaking studio in South Carolina. Her works have been shown at Redux Contemporary Art Center, Kai Lin Art, Gutstein Gallery, and 701 Center for Contemporary Art. She has been featured by The Jealous Curator, Create Magazine, and PXP Contemporary.
Contact
www.colleencritcher.com
colleencritcher@gmail.com
@colleencritcher
Interview
What inspires your art practice and keeps you motivated?
My art practice is perpetually inspired by American pop culture. I find motivation in sharing my experiences through visual language because I experience the world most vividly through visual understanding.
How does your mission as an artist influence the work you create?
My mission as an artist has always been about communicating and starting conversations. That can mean a lot of different things and doesn't always go as I planned, which is part of the fun of it.
Can you share a key part of your creative process that helps you stay focused?
A key part of my creative process is working with repetitive imagery, as it relates to the core idea of mass consumer culture. For a lot of artists, that may sound boring, but for me, it's become a more meditative process. As long as I'm enjoying my studio time, I know that what I'm doing is worthwhile.
What mindset tip do you rely on to overcome challenges in your art career?
My best mindset tip is to just keep going, no matter what hiccups come in your life or art career. Things can get hard from time to time. It can feel like no one is looking at what you're doing. It's not your job to worry about that. It's your job to document your experience on earth while you can, because not everyone is gifted with the creative ability to do that.
How do you hope your art impacts the world or your community?
I hope that my art makes people think, and I also hope that it makes them smile. There's an element of humor in just about everything I do.
