Christa Blackwood - Pencey Prep; mortar and pestle - 8x10 tintype - $125

Christa Blackwood is an artist and educator specializing in alternative photographic processes and photo-based installations. She is currently based in Austin, Texas. Her visual voice was developed while a student at New York University, when she began producing street installation art such as Butcherknives (1991), a work that addressed issues of sexual violence. A chilling juxtaposition of billboard-like close-ups and text from poet Michelle Kotler, Butcherknives, was plastered all over the streets of lower Manhattan on the evening that the William Kennedy Smith verdict was announced. The poster’s timely and provocative appearance resulted in heightened critical attention for Blackwood, including an invitation to join the Women’s Action Coalition (WAC) from renowned artists and scholars Kiki Smith and Lucy Lippard. Blackwood has studied with the photographer, educator and MacArthur Fellow Wendy Ewald at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. She was particularly drawn to Ewald’s focus on utilizing the camera for “helping children to see.” These experiences informed her work as Founding Director of The Children’s Photographic Collective, established in 1993 to increase children’s awareness and understanding of culture through photography. Blackwood’s dream-like sequences employ multiple techniques and methods, fusing traditional, historical and alternative processes with contemporary practices such as iPhone image-making and street installations. Thematically and stylistically, her works draw from Surrealist theories and practices, Pop Art and its engagement with film stills and print ads, and the candid intimacy of family portraiture. christablackwood.com