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Beginning the process of wrapping the piano, and later, my husband.
another image from this series
After we freed him from the piano
In my series, Beautiful Madness, I explore the compulsion an artist has to create, even when the process is messy, often depressing, and sometimes maddening. I’m interested in those moments when we are on the verge of completely breaking down, when it seems futile to keep trying, when we might give up.

I’m curious about this self-doubt, this frailty and failure, but also this drive toward self-expression that seems to have a very real power over us. We become something of a slave to the madness, perhaps ignoring other parts of our lives in our pursuit of new ideas. What does it look like? How does it feel? 

To create the work, I chose to use one space, my own room, since it can be my creative sanctuary but also my asylum. For each photograph I worked to create the reality of being obsessed, consumed or undone. To this end, I asked a lot of my models. They committed to being wrapped in, covered by, and buried under my fabrications. 

I have saved the pieces, the fabrications, I created for each image, like all of the gold yarn I used to wrap the piano, all the matches I burned and the six trash bags full of crumpled paper, most of it hand-stained with tea and coffee. In the exhibition, these elements are included, installations to accompany the images. If you look at each image carefully, you’ll see that the images connect to one another through these elements and through the blue paint used repeatedly. I’ve saved blue-stained clothing worn by models and my blue fingerprints are on Polaroids taken while I was shooting. 

With this work, I want to acknowledge that very moment when a person could either sink into despair or begin to look for redemption. There is beauty to be found in the unravelling.

All originals are printed on smooth, archival Epson Hot Press Bright art paper with two-inch white border on all sides. Each piece will be signed and numbered on the back and shipped with a certificate of authenticity.

Editions/Sizes

40x60  |  ed. of 3
26.7x40  |  ed. of 10
18.7x28  |  ed. of 15
13.34x20  |  ed of 30

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3

View In My Room

Consuming 1/3 - Limited Edition of 3 Photograph

Christie Stockstill

United States

Photography, Color on Soft (Yarn, Cotton, Fabric)

Size: 60 W x 40 H x 0.1 D in

Ships in a Tube

$1,985

Shipping included

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123 Views

3

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ABOUT THE ARTWORK
DETAILS AND DIMENSIONS
SHIPPING AND RETURNS

In my series, Beautiful Madness, I explore the compulsion an artist has to create, even when the process is messy, often depressing, and sometimes maddening. I’m interested in those moments when we are on the verge of completely breaking down, when it seems futile to keep trying, when we might give ...

Year Created:

2016

Subject:
Medium:

Photography, Color on Soft (Yarn, Cotton, Fabric)

Rarity:

Limited Edition of 3

Size:

60 W x 40 H x 0.1 D in

Ready to Hang:

Not Applicable

Frame:

Not Framed

Authenticity:

Certificate is Included

Packaging:

Ships Rolled in a Tube

Delivery Cost:

Shipping is included in price.

Delivery Time:

Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.

Returns:

The purchase of photography and limited edition artworks as shipped by the artist is final sale.

Handling:

Ships rolled in a tube. Artists are responsible for packaging and adhering to Saatchi Art’s packaging guidelines.

Ships From:

United States.

Need more information?

Need more information?

Inspired by literature and film—writers like Flannery O’Connor and Raymond Carver and writer/directors like David Lynch and The Coen Brothers—I make moody and mysterious, sometimes quirky or irreverent works including, photographs, timed pieces, objects, and texts in order to delight, surprise, agitate and connect. These are the tools with which I examine different aspects of life: love, injustice, despair, redemption… To communicate through these tools requires a reckoning with, not only the problematic qualities of the medium of photography and how an increasingly image-based society consumes and processes nearly constant visual messaging, but also the constraints and challenges of modern communication, and, beyond that, the problems and power of language itself. Like many, I crave a more compassionate and honest world, but I reject a didactic approach to achieving it. It is more natural for me to think like the writer, to embrace fiction as a vehicle for exploring certain universal experiences and the multifaceted nature of reality; and like the director, to find an impactful way to connect with an audience. Technology—including my iPhone, digital camera, and post-production software—plays a role in my work, but a more physical, analog approach is equally important to my process, whether that means completely wrapping our piano (and my husband) in yarn for a photograph or pulling the pages out of hymnals and pasting in new prayers for the trans community. I sew, cut, and glue, build props, and make sets and clothing, not only to use in creating the work, but also to display as part of the installation. Though the work is ultimately the result of lengthy and obsessive thought on a subject, in the making of it, I relish opportunities for experimentation and play.

Artist Recognition
Artist featured in a collection

Artist featured by Saatchi Art in a collection

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