Interview with Christina Mazzalupo

q) Well, first of all please tell us a little about yourself.

a)5’3”. Born in Connecticut, USA, to an Italian-American father and French-Canadian mother. Went to catholic school for 13 years. Infatuated with animals. Can no longer eat macaroni because wheat makes me sick (I find this part of my life to be a travesty). Play guitar and sing in a band. Hope to come back in my next life as a lion.

q) Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

a)I did poorly in all of my art classes in high school because we had to do crafts and draw flowers which I am terrible at. I didn’t realize I could actually “be an artist” until I was in college at age 19. After having 4 other areas of concentration and being bored with them all, I finally felt at home when I began taking art classes in my third year at school. I did a lot of writing and poetry from high school onward. I always felt the need to express my thoughts.

q) Do you have a preferred medium to work on? Why?

a)I seem to work best with pencil or ink on paper and watercolor. I also really like collage. I love to paint but it is more challenging for me and doesn’t come as naturally as the others.

q) How would you describe your style?

a)I feel like an outsider artist who can’t be classified as “outside” because I have been educated in art.

q) Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

a)For years my work was primarily fed by emotional turmoil. Now that I am older and less addled with emotional turmoil, I have had to be open to new sources of inspiration. One of these has included doing a lot of research on things I find interesting and finding ways to bring them into my work. There is a lot of downtime where I don’t make anything. Then I will make a ton of stuff very quickly. That’s how it is for me. It all happens in bursts.

q) What are you working on at present?

a)I just finished the work for a solo show that is opening on May 30th at Mixed Greens Gallery in NYC. Right now I am taking a minute to breathe. This summer I plan to paint, finish a book project I am working on about a character named Astrid, and make and sell more tee shirts. Also, I might take bluegrass guitar lessons.

q) What about recent sources of inspirations?

a)I am always attracted to things that are coming from an imaginative or psychological place, indicative of the artist’s personality. I have been truly inspired by artists such as Mark Ryden and Henry Darger, Robert Rauschenberg and Squeak Carnwath. People like George Widener amaze me. When I first saw Marcel Dzama’s work a couple of years ago I felt like I had found a long lost brother. Another favourite artist is Amy Winfrey who makes animations. Some people I find brilliant include Nicole J. Georges, Matthew Gray Gubler, Edwina White...and quite a few others whose names I can never remember. I am also constantly inspired by animals, and lately quite inspired by science.

q) What are some of your obsessions?

a)Animals, coffee, soft shirts, chocolate, being tidy, sharp pencils, the way the paper in new books smell, and the sea.

q) Which galleries have you shown at and which galleries would you like to show at?

a)I love Mixed Greens always and forever.

q) If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

a)ail: Xtmazz@aol.com. I have telephone phobia.

q) Do you have any suggestions or advice for artists that are just starting out?

a)Don’t try too hard to fit in. Just do what feels good to you. That is always the right way to go.

q) Who are your favourite artists?

a)See above.

q) What books are on your nightstand?

a)The Merck Manual, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, crossword puzzles, Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf by Sonya Hartnett, and No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July.

q) To what weaknesses are you most indulgent?

a)Coffee, Chocolate, Vanity, Television.

q)….your contacts…

a) www.human-suit.com/