Reader of the Week: Krissi Sandvik of Sacramento
Artist and creator of Stitchery & Mexiphemera
By Jihanah Rasul
Published: May 5th, 2008 | 5:20pm
Your art has dark elements but it is also very beautiful and humorous. It also seems to have Latin American art influences. How do you go about coming up with subject matter?
I grew up in the 1970s and ’80s and spent a lot of my childhood watching Night Gallery and old horror movies on late-night TV. My mother was an emergency room nurse, which meant that I was exposed to her graphic blood-and-guts jokes, known to insiders as “hospital humor.” Just about anything was fair game for discussion at the dinner table.
In the ‘80s and ’90s, I spent a very happy decade immersed in the mix of Latin and Latin American culture that San Francisco’s Mission District offered. The people are warm and welcoming, and the food is incredible. Despite my red hair and pale skin, I’m a Latina at heart.
I like to comment on serious subjects with a sense of humor because I’ve found people will actually open their minds to new ideas or ways of thinking when they’re happy. My current subjects of interest are the problematic body image of American girls and women, bigotry of any flavor, and the plight of domestic and wild animals.
In short, I was exposed to a wide range of cultures (and pop-culture icons), which meld together in the subjects, imagery, ironic humor, and even fabric choices of my works.
Are you a full-time artist?
I do have a few “housewife” duties caring for our seven animals, but if it weren’t for my incredible husband, Ron, I’d probably have a day job and never have time to create. Thanks to his support, I can spend my days working on my art and administrating two artist collectives (The Scary-Art Collective and Scary-Art CRAFT).
When did you decide to start displaying your work on less traditional “canvases” such as mouse pads, mirrors, and mugs?
I don’t think I really “decided” to merchandise my work as much as my friends and supporters started demanding to see my Skelekitty character on stuff they could buy and use on a daily basis. She’s my most popular creation, but because it takes a lot of cutting and sewing of tiny pieces of silk to create her, we have a love-hate (but mostly love) relationship. Upon her creation, my friend Nicolas Caesar summed it up by saying, “Get ready to make these for the rest of your life!”
View Krissi Sandvik's work at krissisandvik.com and krissisandvik.blogspot.com.
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Issue #29
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