{"article":{"id":671,"title":"Artist Edra Soto: Mining Personal History to Create Artistic Engagement","excerpt":"","body":"<html><head></head><body><figure class=\"image\"><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418300/z5p5gsuvdvpowlxqgart.gif\"><figcaption>Edra Soto, <i>Open 24 Hours</i>, 2018. Photo: James Prinz</figcaption></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><p>By ALISON REILLY</p><p><i>Edra Soto’s warmth, generosity, and kindness are apparent (and contagious). She speaks candidly about her work, her influences, and her upbringing in Cupey, Puerto Rico. Her motivations, her life experiences, and her perspectives push her audience to more closely examine their own neighborhoods, sidewalks, fences, and homes. In a contemporary art world that can often reject the participation of the audience, Soto takes the hands of her viewers and looks them in the eye. She acknowledges their bodies, their physical presence, and their memories. Her artistic and personal lives are bound together, which some might consider a great risk. However, her exceptional body of work demonstrates the opportunity for shared growth by revealing vulnerabilities. Below is an edited version of our recent conversation about her move to Chicago, her ongoing series GRAFT, and her upcoming projects.</i></p><p><br><strong>Chicago Gallery News: Can you tell me about how you grew up? Which part of Puerto Rico are you from?</strong></p><p><strong>Edra Soto: </strong>I grew up in a middle class family in Cupey, Puerto Rico. Cupey is the biggest and most populated barrio in the metropolitan area of San Juan. Both my parents worked hard for my brother and me. My father worked for an insurance company and for the military through the air force. He traveled a lot. My mom stayed with us at home and did many jobs. She had a home nursery; she ran a commercial ceramic business with my dad at home; and she was a baker. She made amazing wedding, quinceañera, and birthday cakes. I have childhood memories of chewing hard sugar flowers and looking at my reflection in the immense mirrors she made by pouring sugar in order to create a fake pond. Perhaps that was the beginning of my appreciation for installation work.</p><p><strong>CGN: What did it feel like to move from Puerto Rico (via Paris) to Chicago?</strong></p><p><strong>ES:</strong> I felt fortunate to have parents that had faith in me and who could help me make the move. But I also thought that I was not going to make it outside of Puerto Rico. I became a commercial artist very early in my life. During my last year at Escuela de Artes Plásticas&nbsp;de Puerto Rico I won a few awards at my bachelor’s graduation and sold out two shows at a commercial gallery in San Juan. My parents were impressed and motivated to help me transition into higher education.</p><p>It took me awhile to get used to Chicago’s weather. I even did an installation, titled <i>I Love Chicago Project</i>, dedicated to my relationship with Chicago, the School of the Art Institute, and the weather. I created an alter ego in the form of a lion tamer to symbolically build self-empowerment. This was my first time bringing people together to activate a project. I invited artists I met at the school, my roommate, my boyfriend (now my husband), and whoever wanted to be a part of this project. I made posters to promote the events and opened my semi-private studio for visitors.</p><figure class=\"image\"><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418301/nzejtkvkckblcrqklijw.gif\"><figcaption>Portrait of the artist Edra Soto. Photo: Dan Sullivan</figcaption></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>CGN: You mentioned your commercial success as an artist in Puerto Rico, but you have now moved away from the gallery/artist relationship model. How do you support yourself?</strong></p><p><strong>ES: </strong>After grad school, I supported myself by working at a Chicago public school. Some years later, I worked at a charter school. I dedicated ten years of my life to teach high school. It was hard work, but I learned a lot from the experiences. I met wonderful students who brought great joy and pride to my life. After those ten years, I built enough confidence to teach at the college level. I’ve been a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for the past five years and just recently started to teach an Introduction to Social Engagement course at the University of Illinois in Chicago. As my visibility as an artist increased, I started to get approached by colleges and universities to lecture and do exhibitions. These opportunities increased to the point where I could become a freelancer.</p><p><strong>CGN: Do you encourage other artists to follow your example?</strong></p><p><strong>ES:</strong> Perhaps following my path is not even practical for me. I tend to live in the moment and my planning is mostly work-related, not life-related. My life works because my art works, and I try to keep that way. It is not a predictable or financially stable situation. At this precise moment I don’t feel great financial support, but I am creating projects that might bring financial support in the future. So, I’m still gambling.</p><figure class=\"image\"><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418302/heuiotrjbba4qp49ml4k.gif\"><figcaption>Edra Soto, <i>GRAFT</i> (detail), 2019.</figcaption></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>CGN: How has your experience as an art teacher in Chicago public schools shaped your practice as an artist?</strong></p><p><strong>ES: </strong>Many of the methods and materials I used with my high school students became a part of my artistic practice. Structure doesn’t manifest naturally on me. When I’m telling a story, I have to make a conscious effort to keep it on track to build a natural progression. Becoming a high school teacher forced me to work with a type of structure that allowed me to keep order. To be an administrator, you have to be organized. It turns out that so much of the work I do, as an artist, is administrative. If I’m not efficient at keeping track of what needs to get done, I will miss deadlines, opportunities, and even relationships.</p><p><strong>CGN: What is your studio like?</strong></p><p><strong>ES: </strong>My studio looks like a warehouse! My process is very embedded in my daily life. I’m less of a craftsperson and more of project manager, designer, and researcher.</p><p><strong>CGN: In 2017-2018 you presented </strong><i>Open 24 Hours</i><strong> at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA). In an interview you stated, “Putting the bottles in other people’s hands is putting the responsibility of littering in their hands, which was my initial motivation for picking up the bottle.” Can you talk about your relationship with the viewer (or participant)? Why is it important for you to put the responsibility of littering in their hands and how does that relate to your motivations as an artist?</strong></p><p><strong>ES: </strong>I consider the action of picking up garbage my civic duty. I learned this when I was in ninth grade. I forget a lot of things, but that lesson I never forget. A teacher took a group of students and me to a hallway and told us, “Even if it’s not your garbage, you pick it up, and place it in the trashcan.” The action of picking up garbage became a sign of education.</p><p>This is the same model brought to life in <i>Open 24 Hours</i>. The work is about respect for the land, appreciation for the place you live, and the people living in it. Cleaning can become a conversation on values, from self-value, to value of a place, to others’ values.</p><p>At the MCA, all the refuse that I collected in 2017 was on display to evidence what I witness daily. I designed a transactional procedure between the museum visitor and me. I created a contract that they had to sign if they wanted to acquire, or “adopt” as the museum described it, a glass bottle that I had found in my neighborhood, picked up, and cleaned. In the contract, I describe the bottle as “a piece of American history” to instigate intrigue in the meaning behind the bottles. The procedure was a strategy to elevate the desire and value of these objects. They taught me about a history that I was not aware of, so I couldn’t simply offer them for free. Through the procedure, I also asked people for their time. Perhaps time is one of the things we all value the most.</p><p><strong>CGN: You started your ongoing work </strong><i>GRAFT</i><strong> in 2013. What does the title mean?</strong></p><p><strong>ES:</strong> <i>GRAFT</i> is an imaginary migration. Citing structures known as quiebrasoles and rejas found prominently in Puerto Rico, <i>GRAFT</i> physically interconnects existing architecture to a site-specific place while conceptually representing an imaginary transplant or migratory gesture.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>CGN: Do you keep an inventory of quiebrasoles and rejas patterns? Are the patterns in your work based on ones you have seen, or do you create new patterns?</strong></p><p><strong>ES:</strong> I source all the patterns for <i>GRAFT</i>. My visits to Puerto Rico have been steadily increasing since my father passed in the summer of 2017. But I’ve been documenting quiebrasoles and rejas patterns for many years, even before I started the project.</p><p>I used to make drawings of the patterns, but at the time I didn’t see great value in the gesture. Living a greater part of my life surrounded by these patterns makes me sensitive to the role they play in visual culture. Presenting them through architectural interventions becomes a way of reinstating them rather than reproducing them. The history that this project unveils explains why it is so easy to “borrow” their beauty without thinking about their greater cultural significance.</p><p><strong>CGN: Do the materials of quiebrasoles (concrete) and rejas (wrought iron) resonate with you?</strong></p><p><strong>ES:</strong> The purpose of concrete and wrought iron to the casa criolla (common house) in the Caribbean was for protection and ventilation. These are familiar, raw, nostalgic, and even seductive materials to me, but I wouldn’t appropriate them and take them out of their original function and context.</p><p><strong>CGN: How does it feel to present </strong><i>GRAFT</i><strong> in different settings? For example, in 2013 you installed it at Terrain Exhibitions in Chicago and recently in 2018 at the Untitled Art Fair in Miami.</strong></p><p><strong>ES:</strong> At both of these spaces the architectural interventions were remarkable in terms of visibility and audience responses. They both motivated creative thinking and negotiation of space. At Terrain it was the first architectural intervention I’ve made. At Untitled I took the opportunity to introduce photo documentation as a new element. I embedded small viewfinders in the circular spaces of the structure. By peering through the viewfinders, the audience is met with an image documenting my everyday life during visits to Puerto Rico. Photos of my childhood home, scenes from various neighborhoods, and destruction from Hurricane Maria are just some of the images viewers see. The act itself is akin to peering through the quiebrasoles and rejas surrounding a Puerto Rican home to glimpse the house behind the walls.</p><p><strong>CGN: Have you presented </strong><i>GRAFT</i><strong> in Puerto Rico?</strong></p><p><strong>ES: </strong>Not as an architectural intervention; it would be redundant. At the Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, documentation of <i>GRAFT</i> was included as part of an exhibition titled <i>Ida y Vuelta </i>curated by Dr. Laura Bravo. I recently donated these prints to the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico for their permanent collection.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><figure class=\"image\"><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418304/yfohbylnma9wwxevjohi.jpg\"><figcaption>Edra Soto, <i>Manual Graft</i>, 2019. Architectural intervention at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. photo credit EG Schempf.</figcaption></figure><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>CGN: For each iteration of </strong><i>GRAFT</i><strong> you include a literary component. Why is that important to you?</strong></p><p><strong>ES: </strong><i>GRAFT</i> allows me to expand the multidisciplinary aspects of the project and explore visibility by providing a format that can be disseminated beyond the gallery experience. The literary component creates an accessible history of Puerto Rican vernacular architecture. While quiebrasoles and rejas are popularly recognized in Puerto Rican’s visual culture, there is little exploration or research on the origin of these patterns. Contrary to the familiarity of colonial architecture, vernacular architecture has yet to be included as an exploratory subject in primary and secondary education in the Caribbean. Writers from disciplines of art history, art, architecture, and politics are invited to reflect on rejas in the contexts of their individual fields of expertise. The content is published in both English and Spanish and is available to the public.</p><p><strong>CGN: Some iterations of </strong><i>GRAFT</i><strong> include a shelter that resembles a bus stop. Why is this type of structure significant to you?</strong></p><p><strong>ES:</strong> The elements of <i>GRAFT</i> are specific to each space, and sometimes I include a shelter, reminiscent of a bus stop, that serves as a bench for visitors to sit and read the accompanying publication. Bus shelters in Puerto Rico may be made of concrete, wood, and aluminum. I’ve seen a few made in concrete that integrate quiebrasoles in their design.</p><p><strong>CGN: What are your upcoming projects for this year?</strong></p><p><strong>ES:</strong> Currently, my work is on view until June 2, 2019 at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art as part of an exhibition curated by Risa Puleo titled <i>Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly</i>.</p><p>Another group exhibition I’m part of, <i>Art of the Neighborhood</i>, is currently at the Willis Tower through the summer, curated by CNL Projects and Chicago Artists Coalition.</p><p>I’m involved in three MacArthur Foundation cultural exchanges! One is currently at Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in San Juan. The second, an exchange with Cuba, will have its Chicago presentation at the Smart Museum in summer 2019 and in Cuba in 2020. The third, an exchange with Brazil curated by Jordan Martins, will take place in 2020. A long overdue commission for the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line Western station is on its way as well.</p><p>This summer I was invited to create work with a client from the Light &amp; Salt Coalition, a grassroots movement that mobilizes individuals and organizations to heal, educate, and empower youth and women in the fight against slavery. My donation will be auctioned at their summer gala.</p><p>More information about and works by Edra Soto may be found at &nbsp;<a href=\"https://edrasoto.com/home.html\">www.edrasoto.com</a></p><p><i>Publisher's note: In April 2019 Edra Soto was awarded the Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA) 2019 Artist Fellowship Award. Non-matching Fellowships in fixed amounts of $15,000 are awarded to Illinois artists in recognition of their outstanding work and commitment within the arts.</i></p></body></html>","published_at":"2019-05-07 12:00:00","state":"published","slug":"artist-edra-soto-mining-personal-history-to-create-artistic-engagement","type":"NewsPost","meta_description":"","text":null,"created_at":"2019-05-07 19:03:38.397837","updated_at":"2019-08-27 17:47:01.453852","category_id":3,"highlighted":false,"searchable":"'-2018':988B '000':2339B '15':2338B '2':2112B '2013':1351B,1626B '2017':987B,1208B,1449B '2018':16B,1638B '2019':811B,1849B,2113B,2210B,2315B,2326B '2020':2215B,2230B '24':14B,992B,1157B 'access':1912B 'accompani':2065B 'acknowledg':99B 'acquir':1242B 'act':1753B 'action':1075B,1137B 'activ':490B 'administr':905B,926B 'adopt':1244B 'agenc':2324B 'air':232B 'akin':1756B 'alison':21B 'allow':897B,1882B 'also':356B,1325B 'alter':466B 'aluminum':2079B 'amaz':272B 'american':1275B 'amount':2336B 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We spoke&nbsp;with five insiders about what excites them now&nbsp;and what they anticipate next.</p><p><br></p><p><em>The following preview is one of five conversations that appear in CGN's Fall 2026 magazine. To receive a copy of the print edition&nbsp;</em><a href=\"https://835ba3.myshopify.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><em>click here.</em></a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789517637/noxz9olp47gfneafz8xg.jpg\"></p><p><br></p><h4><em>Nikko Washington –&nbsp;</em></h4><h4><em>Artist</em></h4><p><br></p><p>“I’m thrilled to further expand my artistic and design practice by introducing other mediums into the mix. I’m looking forward to watching the seasons change and devoting a lot of time in the studio as well. Fall/winter is my favorite time to create new works.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>I have an upcoming solo show with <a href=\"https://vsgcontemporary.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">VSG&nbsp;Contemporary</a> that I am excited about. The work will delve further into the topics of cultural mythology and how these tales and narratives have helped shape my worldview.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Also, it wouldn’t be right if I left out my&nbsp;excitement for this upcoming season of Chicago sports.”</p><p><br></p><p><a href=\"https://www.nikkowashington.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Nikko Washington</a></p><p><br></p>","published_at":"2026-09-11 00:30:00","state":"published","slug":"anticipating-a-season-of-art-five-to-talk-to-nikko-washington","type":null,"meta_description":"","text":null,"created_at":"2026-09-16 00:13:58.216","updated_at":"2026-09-16 00:13:58.216","category_id":3,"highlighted":false,"searchable":"'2026':76B 'across':19B 'also':174B 'anticip':1A,60B 'appear':71B 'art':5A 'artist':39B,90B,98B 'behind':26B 'bring':41B 'cgn':73B 'chang':117B 'chicago':191B 'click':86B 'communiti':33B 'contemporari':146B 'convers':69B 'copi':81B 'creat':135B 'cultur':161B 'delv':155B 'design':100B 'devot':119B 'edit':85B 'excit':54B,150B,185B 'exhibit':18B 'expand':96B 'fall':12B,75B 'fall/winter':129B 'favorit':132B 'five':6A,50B,68B 'follow':63B 'forward':112B 'fresh':42B 'full':15B 'galleri':20B 'help':170B 'insid':51B 'introduc':103B 'left':182B 'look':111B 'lot':121B 'm':92B,110B 'magazin':77B 'mani':29B 'medium':105B 'midwest':25B 'mix':108B 'museum':22B 'mytholog':162B 'narrat':168B 'new':136B 'next':61B 'nikko':10A,88B,193B 'offer':13B 'one':66B 'peopl':30B 'perspect':43B 'practic':101B 'preview':64B 'print':84B 'public':46B 'receiv':79B 'right':179B 'scene':28B 'season':3A,116B,189B 'shape':171B 'show':143B 'slate':16B 'solo':142B 'spoke':48B 'sport':192B 'studio':126B 'support':38B 'tale':166B 'talk':8A 'thrill':93B 'throughout':23B 'time':123B,133B 'tireless':36B 'topic':159B 'upcom':141B,188B 'vsg':145B 'washington':11A,89B,194B 'watch':114B 'well':128B 'work':35B,137B,153B 'worldview':173B 'wouldn':176B","thumbnail":"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788406360/ujd84dhihjroxqjs9izj.jpg","editor_pick":true},{"id":13930,"title":"Andi Crist: The Art of The Pun","excerpt":null,"body":"<p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961823/s3lp0uull2s8mvd8funj.jpg\"></p><p><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Andi Crist, </span><em style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Extension Cords</em><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">, Glazed stoneware, chrome, Sizes vary 2021-present. Photo: Mikey Mosher</span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><strong><em>This interview is part of CGN's Fall 2026 issue.&nbsp;</em></strong><strong style=\"color: rgb(51, 51, 51);\"><em style=\"color: rgb(51, 51, 51);\"><a href=\"https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" style=\"color: rgb(51, 51, 51);\" target=\"_blank\">Purchase a copy or subscribe</a>.</em></strong></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961824/mghrpnghxd9j9ko2dsjt.jpg\"></p><p><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Andi Crist</span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>BY ALISON REILLY</p><p><br></p><p>Andi Crist’s warm, engaging demeanor is evident in the first few minutes of our conversation. Generous with her time and forthcoming in her observations, she cares deeply about building relationships through her art making. Crist grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, devoured art classes, wrote songs and played music in high school, and moved to Chicago to study visual art at Columbia College. In 2024, she received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a woodworker, sculptor, ceramicist, and conceptual artist, and she teaches at Illinois Institute of Technology. We discussed her multidisciplinary practice, her experience working as an art handler, preparator, and fabricator, and how she thinks about labor, creativity, and value in the art world.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: You grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. How did that environment shape your point of view as an artist?</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Andi Crist:</strong> That’s such a funny question. Nobody’s ever really asked.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: Oh, really?</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC: </strong>Yeah, maybe because I never was super connected with the arts community down in Birmingham. I moved to Chicago in 2007, so it’s been 20 years since I lived in the South. I was definitely one of those art kids—one art credit was required in high school, and I graduated with like seven. I was surrounded by artists who had a big impact on me, because they were working artists. All my art teachers were trained in Alabama and then continued to teach and work in Alabama, which gave me this desire to try to expand my community outside of what I was familiar with.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: Do you identify as a Chicagoan?</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC: </strong>My family still lives in Alabama, and I go back every year. I love being in Alabama. Maybe now being in Chicago for almost 20 years, I identify as a southerner living in the city. I carry on the social qualities of a friendly southern person [laughs].&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN:</strong> <strong>You have a varied art practice</strong><strong style=\"color: rgb(71, 71, 71);\">—</strong><strong>woodwork, ceramics, mold making. What drew you to those types of fabrication methods and that type of art making?</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC:</strong> My dad is a carpenter and a hobbyist woodworker, but his career was psychology, and my mom was a professor and an incredible craftswoman. I absorbed my mom’s model of creativity, which is to try a bunch of different things and not necessarily finish them but to try to learn as much as I can by just going for it. My practice over the years has become an exploration of conceptual elements of what makes art art and not just craft. Do you have to be a master craftsperson or a professional artist in order to make something that resonates with people?</p><p><br></p><p>I make a lot of work that references the mode of making and requires a variety of different media. I just finished teaching a ceramics production class where students learned how to produce molds, think about positives and negatives, and get into a level of production rather than just handicraft as a way to multiply their output.</p><p><br></p><p>I got into fabrication because I’ve always liked working with other artists. I have a background in theater and gallery work. I’m a voracious learner, and I like being able to share those skills with my community. Then I end up making work about that. It’s a self-feeding cycle.</p><p><br></p><p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961825/zzejqwibga5f5wk6einh.jpg\"></p><p><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Andi Crist,&nbsp;</span><em style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Artist’s Ladder</em><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">, 2023.&nbsp;Photo: Jeff Perlman</span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: Thinking about your background as an art handler and preparator</strong><strong style=\"color: rgb(59, 62, 65);\">—</strong><strong>how did you get to the point where you were making work about that experience?</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC: </strong>In 2010, right before I graduated from Columbia, I was living in a storefront in West Logan Square with my partner at the time. We started a gallery called Autotelic in the space and had to build it out using the worst tools with very minimal resources. Then we started curating shows there and that meant helping other artists figure out how to install their work in our unusual space. Eventually, I gained the reputation for knowing how to do that type of work. I started getting invited to work in museums and galleries.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The Holocaust Museum was the first museum I worked at, and as difficult as that subject matter is, that experience was really important to me because I was learning more about the larger world of gallery work. As an artist working as a preparator, you’re straddling both sides of that space. You’re really seeing how the sausage is made. You’re hearing all the conversations about artists, curators, the process of exhibition making. There is a lot of information you can gather about the economics of the art world by just being the person that has the know-how to touch and handle artwork. Eventually that started feeding into my art practice because I wanted to make work that was contributing to a conversation around art as a type of job. It fueled a methodology of seeing everything in the world as the result of a long line of processes that required effort and thoughtfulness by many hands.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961826/uv5bysb5fbne30gr5czh.jpg\"></p><p><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Andi Crist, </span><em style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Fair Warning</em><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">, 2025.</span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: The title of your recent exhibition at the Cleve Carney Museum—<em>Live, Laugh, Lo</em>—sorry, not <em>Live, Laugh, Love</em>—<em>Live, Laugh, Labor</em>.</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC:</strong> [Laughs] That’s what everybody does.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: I love the title—it’s perfect. You incorporate humor along with thoughtful critiques about labor and value in your work. What role does humor play? How does it help you connect with your audience?</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC:</strong> One of my biggest criticisms of art with a capital A is how easily it can be overly intellectualized. I think that’s why I end up making a lot of work that references things that already exist or have some kind of real purpose. It’s important to give people a foothold so there’s an obvious place to board that train of thought. As an artist—maybe this is me getting into a sweeping argument about what artists should be—but I personally believe in intellectual accessibility. Humor is a swift way to drop defenses and allow people to come in without feeling like they are not getting the joke or not understanding. I like to make work that can hold both of those things at the same time—it’s funny on the surface level, it’s kind of cheeky, but there’s also another way to look at it that is intellectually clever. There is a joy in the attempt to “get it”. Like the satisfaction of grasping how a crossword puzzle actually works.</p><p><br></p><p>It’s also so much a part of my personality. I take myself seriously as an artist, but my ego isn’t at the heart of it. It’s really something that I do because I love to make things, and I love to connect with other people. My parents raised me on puns, creating those language relationships between things and people and space. Understanding a joke is the same way that we understand art, and while neither of my parents would consider themselves artists, they taught me how to think about art.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961828/gnotyfijabr7e15kb6hm.jpg\"></p><p><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Andi Crist,&nbsp;</span><em style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">69 Bananas</em></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: Your work, <em>Artist’s Ladder</em>, explores hierarchies, workplace cultures, and institutional values. What experiences shaped your reflections on these themes?</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>AC:</strong> The ladder piece distinctly represents the complicated relationship between front of house, back of house, and the hierarchy of labor. Who is the artist in those relationships? How much does another person’s knowledge and expertise contribute to the success of another artist?</p><p><br></p><p>There are enormous, industrialized art practices out there, warehouses full of people making things, and those people are also artists. When you make work that involves other people, it’s important to acknowledge their contributions. I’ve had complicated interactions with other artists who are like, ‘Hey, do you want to collaborate with me on this thing?’ but really they just want me to make their idea. I made <em>Artist’s Ladder</em> while I was in grad school at UIC, and it really represented my relationship with a lot of other artists, because I could be an actual support structure for them. Then it turned into this absurd physical thing. It’s extremely overbuilt with inlaid racing stripes made of exotic hardwood, and a butcher’s block-style plaid top. It’s not really like an FU as much as it is asking for acknowledgement of my skills and the essential support structures that exist.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>CGN: I want to ask you about another piece, <em>Five O’Clock Somewhere</em>, a wool rug that resembles a children’s play mat. I work at a library, and it reminded me of rugs I see all the time. It’s a peaceful image of an office park with a large fountain surrounded by a parking lot. I’m curious why you chose a rug as the medium to depict that image.</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong style=\"color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\">AC: </strong><span style=\"color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\">To me </span>the heart of that joke was that it was a landscape. I wanted it to be physically traversable. And that was, I don’t want to say controversial, but it was something that I had to talk about a lot.<span style=\"color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"> </span>The critique of that work was the fact that I didn’t want to hang it on the wall and turn it into a tapestry. I really wanted it to be a rug that people could walk on. When I showed that work at Chicago Artists Coalition for the New City Breakout Artists show. There was a lot of pushback about having it on the floor and allowing people to walk on it.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>That, to me, was such an important conversation, because, in my mind, the fact that you could walk across it and traverse it was part of how I was thinking about the object. Rugs are utilitarian–they are floor coverings. When you make art that doesn’t do anything, you don’t get to participate in that part of the conversation.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I enjoy sparring around art like that. I am totally tickled by the pushback. The critique of display is exciting, and sorting through the politics of utilitarianism in art spaces is fun to me. And then—it was so crazy—we ended up showing it halfway on the wall and halfway on the ground.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961829/r1zylkwfw9rkw191skdl.jpg\"></p><p><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Andi Crist, </span><em style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Five O’Clock Somewhere</em><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">, on display at </span><em style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Live, Laugh, Labor: Thoughts on Usefulness and Other Myths</em><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\"> at The Cleve Carney Museum of Art, 2025.</span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: Oh, wow.</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC: </strong>I was like, this is the epitome of compromise! I had to build a structure so that it could hang that way safely.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>CGN: I would say just put it on the ground if that’s what you want to do. It’s interesting that there are still very fixed ideas about the way that art should be displayed.</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>AC: </strong>That preparator part of it, that’s what I’m all about. I was having that conversation about what physically supports the work or what conceptually supports it in the way that it’s shown.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>CGN: Have you always been a writer? How do your art and writing practices work together?&nbsp;</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC: </strong>I can’t say that I’m a writer, it’s probably the same way that it can feel weird to call yourself an artist. But I feel like I’ve always been relatively good at writing. The first time I ever did any kind of professional writing was contributing,&nbsp;a long time ago, to a website called eHow. The editors would send me a title, and then I would have to research how to do that thing. Then I would write out step-by-step instructions for how to do that.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>I think that’s how I had to make myself think through my conceptual practice—I had to do the research, coagulate that into some kind of document, and then I would have stream-of-consciousness conversations with myself. “Why are we interested in this? Why would we make it this way? What would I want to talk about if someone were to ask me about this?” It’s almost like I was pre-interviewing myself.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>I think the writing is just another way for me to process that idea before I put in all of the time and energy to actually accomplish it.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: What are you working on right now? What projects do you have coming up?</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC: </strong>The biggest project that I have right now is my house. My family and I suffered a major house fire on New Year’s Day. We’ve been displaced since then and are navigating rebuilding our house. It was a total loss.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961830/kekfqzf9f87fq48juogh.jpg\"></p><p><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Andi Crist, </span><em style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Single-Use Fireplace</em><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">, 2025. Photo: Mikey Mosher.</span></p><p><br></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>CGN: I’m so sorry to hear that.&nbsp;</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC: </strong>Thank you. We’re all okay, but it’s been a really tumultuous year. I moved my studio into a storefront last summer, and so most of my, at least relatively recent, work is safe, and I still have all of my materials, but my home life is starting over. I just had my first full year at this space, and it’s got a little gallery built out in the front called Coming Soon. It’s beautiful with floor-to-ceiling windows on Division and Central Park. I’ve been inviting people into the space to try things out.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>After teaching the ceramics class, I came into a bunch of nice slip casting molds, and I’m making some really playful, weird, ceramic stuff. I want to be open and not put too much pressure on myself. Having a big studio by myself is very expensive, so it’s easy to want to make it feel like it’s worth it. But if for now all I can do is make it a resource for other people, then that will be the thing I do. Be less selfish, but more selfish with my time. Saying I can’t do that, or I don’t want to do that. It’s not my nature to say no—I’m such a yes man. I’m learning how to be a yes man for myself.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: That makes sense after going through something so traumatic.</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>AC:</strong> I have an amazing support system. Our friends started a GoFundMe. It was incredible. I’m so humbled and floored by how held I felt by Chicago. I can’t help but throw a little shout out to my Chicago people. I can see how people’s lives get totally ruined by this kind of tragedy. I feel so lucky. Chicago definitely showed its love back.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong>CGN: For your project Coming Soon, are you bringing in other artists?</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>AC: </strong>My philosophy is that I want to be involved as little as possible. I am thinking about it more as a hosted than curated space. I’m actively soliciting proposals or ideas for workshops, meetings, book clubs—I’m down for making it a resource, whatever that means. I don’t want to over-think it, I want it to be an intuitive and organic thing, which is why I call it Coming Soon—it can be a placeholder for anything. It’s exciting. Taking my hands off the reins is a good exercise for me.</p><p><br></p><p><a href=\"https://www.andicrist.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">andicrist.com</a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961831/gno5dhliwfnzpuaim78s.jpg\"></p><p><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Andi Crist, </span><em style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">Extension Cords</em><span style=\"color: rgb(136, 136, 136);\">, Glazed stoneware, chrome, Sizes vary 2021-present. Photo: Mikey Mosher</span></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>","published_at":"2026-09-10 01:00:00","state":"published","slug":"andi-crist-the-art-of-the-pun","type":null,"meta_description":"","text":null,"created_at":"2026-09-09 13:50:32.441","updated_at":"2026-09-09 13:50:32.441","category_id":3,"highlighted":false,"searchable":"'20':224B,338B '2007':219B '2010':639B '2021':17B,2614B '2023':607B '2024':106B '2025':897B,1789B,2169B '2026':30B '69':1238B 'abl':579B 'absorb':413B 'absurd':1412B 'ac':198B,313B,387B,637B,921B,964B,1261B,1533B,1793B,1853B,1905B,2120B,2181B,2427B,2506B 'access':1053B 'accomplish':2103B 'acknowledg':1337B,1450B 'across':1667B 'activ':2534B 'actual':1141B,1402B,2102B 'ago':1959B 'alabama':82B,169B,278B,287B,319B,330B 'alison':40B 'allow':1063B,1643B 'almost':337B,2069B 'along':939B 'alreadi':1001B 'also':1111B,1145B,1323B 'alway':555B,1892B,1937B 'amaz':2431B 'andi':1A,8B,37B,42B,182B,602B,893B,1236B,1764B,2163B,2605B 'andicrist.com':2604B 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We spoke&nbsp;with five insiders about what excites them now&nbsp;and what they anticipate next.</p><p><br></p><p><em>The following preview is one of five conversations that appear in CGN's Fall 2026 magazine. To receive a copy of the print edition&nbsp;</em><a href=\"https://835ba3.myshopify.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><em>click here.&nbsp;</em></a></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><img src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789516769/izokunnmrufdyjbjnypk.jpg\"></p><h4><em>Debra Kerr –&nbsp;</em></h4><h4><em>CEO, Intuit Art Museum</em></h4><p><br></p><p>“Intuit Art Museum’s renovated, expanded spaces give audiences the chance to connect with art through daily art-making, third Thursday Art After Work, group Slow Looks designed to provide a mindful experience with a single work and upcoming conversations with sculptor Bill Brady (Oct. 3) and Dr. Mary Trent (Oct. 15), who curated our current exhibition on the role of scrapbook-making in Henry Darger’s art.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>On view is the thought-provoking <em>Monumental: The Sculpture of Dr. Charles Smith</em>, which encourages guests to consider the lack of historical representation of African Americans and Black people in America. Dr. Smith’s memorials champion Black history and stories of everyday life he sees missing in mainstream narratives.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>This fall we’re opening an exhibition of paintings by Karla Wong, an artist who immigrated from Oaxaca and who explores themes of life and death, gender identity and self-discovery.”</p><p><br></p><p><a href=\"https://art.org\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Intuit Art Museum</a></p>","published_at":"2026-09-09 00:30:00","state":"published","slug":"anticipating-a-season-of-art-five-to-talk-to-debra-kerr","type":null,"meta_description":"","text":null,"created_at":"2026-09-15 23:59:29.662","updated_at":"2026-09-15 23:59:29.662","category_id":3,"highlighted":false,"searchable":"'15':146B '2026':76B '3':140B 'across':19B 'african':189B 'america':195B 'american':190B 'anticip':1A,60B 'appear':71B 'art':5A,92B,95B,108B,112B,116B,163B,247B 'art-mak':111B 'artist':39B,227B 'audienc':102B 'behind':26B 'bill':137B 'black':192B,201B 'bradi':138B 'bring':41B 'ceo':90B 'cgn':73B 'champion':200B 'chanc':104B 'charl':176B 'click':86B 'communiti':33B 'connect':106B 'consid':182B 'convers':69B,134B 'copi':81B 'curat':148B 'current':150B 'daili':110B 'darger':161B 'death':239B 'debra':10A,88B 'design':122B 'discoveri':245B 'dr':142B,175B,196B 'edit':85B 'encourag':179B 'everyday':206B 'excit':54B 'exhibit':18B,151B,220B 'expand':99B 'experi':127B 'explor':234B 'fall':12B,75B,215B 'five':6A,50B,68B 'follow':63B 'fresh':42B 'full':15B 'galleri':20B 'gender':240B 'give':101B 'group':119B 'guest':180B 'henri':160B 'histor':186B 'histori':202B 'ident':241B 'immigr':229B 'insid':51B 'intuit':91B,94B,246B 'karla':224B 'kerr':11A,89B 'lack':184B 'life':207B,237B 'look':121B 'magazin':77B 'mainstream':212B 'make':113B,158B 'mani':29B 'mari':143B 'memori':199B 'midwest':25B 'mind':126B 'miss':210B 'monument':171B 'museum':22B,93B,96B,248B 'narrat':213B 'next':61B 'oaxaca':231B 'oct':139B,145B 'offer':13B 'one':66B 'open':218B 'paint':222B 'peopl':30B,193B 'perspect':43B 'preview':64B 'print':84B 'provid':124B 'provok':170B 'public':46B 're':217B 'receiv':79B 'renov':98B 'represent':187B 'role':154B 'scene':28B 'scrapbook':157B 'scrapbook-mak':156B 'sculptor':136B 'sculptur':173B 'season':3A 'see':209B 'self':244B 'self-discoveri':243B 'singl':130B 'slate':16B 'slow':120B 'smith':177B,197B 'space':100B 'spoke':48B 'stori':204B 'support':38B 'talk':8A 'theme':235B 'third':114B 'thought':169B 'thought-provok':168B 'throughout':23B 'thursday':115B 'tireless':36B 'trent':144B 'upcom':133B 'view':165B 'wong':225B 'work':35B,118B,131B","thumbnail":"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788406120/wgkj5rkg0rq42watsxad.jpg","editor_pick":true}]}