Interdisciplinary artist Crystal Wagner admits she’s actively curious about the world we live in—a curiosity she channels throughout her work as she explores various forms and techniques. Having received her MFA from the University of Tennessee in 2008, her BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 2004, and her AFA from Keystone College in 2002, her art spans a broad range of materials, techniques, and processes.
Her main interests include combining 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional forms, alternative use of materials, hybrid approaches to printmaking, and massive site-specific installations.
“The materials and techniques and execution of the edge has evolved, become more nuanced,” she shared in an interview with Voyage Houston, explaining how her creative process evolved over the years, “but the inherent investigation is still there. The discourse between straight lines and the curve, the tension and teleological emphasis of the forms.”
According to Wagner, her curiosity runs deep. “When I was a kid I was writing and drawing everyday,” she recalles. “I have been digging deep for as long as I can remember. Feeling deeply. When I was young, I drew fantastical birds, born from my imagination. Fast forward to now, my large and small bioforms, while abstract in nature, are born of the same ecological structure and language of flora and fauna.”
Fast forward to adulthood and her installations are now being exhibited extensively in the U.S. and abroad. Notable commissions include a large-scale installation for The Flaming Lips, a large shadow box for GNU a snowboard company out of Portland, OR, a large-scale installation piece for NIKE, presented in the Shrine Auditorium for The KOBE X Blackout Experience, and two installations for Viacom, one of which is a 117 ft piece at their headquarters in Times Square.
“My exterior growth work which I create on the outside of buildings in public spaces is just beginning,” says Wagner.
