Featured Artist: Constance Old

During the six weeks of 'Black White Red' we'll focus on individual artists here on our blog. Every week, several artists will be featured. Today, we're pleased to introduce to you:  Constance Old

“red (for Gail Citrin)”
mixed paper +
plastic/rug hooking
17 3/4" x 17 3/4"

“red (for Gail Citrin)”

Contemporary, non-traditional materials associated with the word “red” are rug hooked on red linen for this piece: sales receipts (in the red), Chinese language newspaper and twines from Chinatown (communism and good luck), gros grain ribbon (AIDS),  mylar and sparkling ribbon (ruby slippers), feminine hygiene product wrappers (blood), the octagon shape (stop).

“red (for Gail Citrin)”
mixed paper +
plastic/rug hooking
17 3/4" x 17 3/4"

Artist Statement/Bio

Constance Old captures the spirit of the 21st century in her work by taking advantage of the excesses of the consumer economy. Old uses the traditional craft of rug hooking to make three dimensional wall pieces. Rug hooking with contemporary materials, her work is both timeless and an index of our time.

Old states: “Paper and plastic interest me as abundantly available fibers that, with imagination and coaxing, can be made into ‘rugs,’ or at least wall pieces. Living in a time of material excess, it intrigues me to work in a medium that originated from need and a scarcity of materials.”

Constance Old received her MFA from Yale University in Graphic Design and worked as an art director for Martha Stewart Living and as a freelance book designer before committing full time to making her own work.

She has exhibited at Farnsworth Art Museum (Rockland ME), Gallery for Contemporary Art at Sacred Heart University (CT), International Print Center New York (NYC), Affordable Art Fair (NYC), ArteAmericas Fair (Miami), Editions and Artists Book Fair (NYC), Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (CA), Hunterdon Museum of Art (NJ), The Carver Museum (TX), Katonah Museum of Art (NY), Brookfield Craft Center (CT), Some Things Looming (PA), Silvermine Guild Arts Center (CT). Old’s work is in corporate and private collections throughout the US and in Australia and Argentina.

www.constanceold.com