Vol. 12 Presenter: Christine Sullivan
Presenting
Felt Words
Summary
Christine Sullivan recently connected with the community of Santa Fe when she realized her social practice project, “Felt During COVID.” She encouraged artists and everyday people to create felt banners, giving voice to their experiences of life during COVID, and ultimately realized a lasting snapshot of this unusual time. This series was exhibited at the Santa Fe Public Library gallery. A virtual reception and auction to benefit the Navajo Nation COVID Response Fund followed.
Sullivan was also part of the SITE Santa Fe “Silver Linings” billboard project in 2020. One of her mixed-media pieces: “Flowers Grow Out of Dark Moments —Corita Kent,'' was exhibited as a billboard outside the museum during that tumultuous time.
Sullivan has since continued to work with felt banners in a messaging format. She is currently working on a protest art project, “Felt During Texas Abortion Bans,” throughout the state of Texas.
Sullivan is also working on a public art piece paying homage to the late Studs Terkel, America’s great historian and activist for the common worker. The title of the piece: “Hope Dies Last,” is based on a book he wrote (which Sullivan designed) and published by The New Press just before he died in 2008, and continues to speak to the spirit of activism in our country today. The art piece is scheduled to be exhibited at the Santa Fe Railyard park in December 2021.
Bio
Christine Sullivan is an artist and designer who moved to Santa Fe from NYC in 2019. Her design practice specializes in arts and community projects. Her clients include The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Santa Fe; The Guggenheim Museum and The New Press, an independent publisher in NYC. She also taught design at City College, New York.
Sullivan’s mixed media artworks play with messaging and imagery found in newspapers, advertising, protest posters, and yes, even church banners. She works with felt banners or uses other material (from newspapers to astroturf) as a sort of “banner” background, incorporating preachy and absurd messaging in felt letters.
There can be a thin line between truth and deception and Sullivan likes to joke that she’s an expert on this since she went to parochial school as a child and worked in advertising as an adult. As a result she’s fascinated with the hidden propaganda in our daily lives and her work encourages the viewer to ask questions about the mores they readily follow in religion, work and community.