Sydney A. Cross, teaches printmaking and art at Clemson University and was awarded the title of Alumni Distinguished Professor of Art. Always professionally active, she is past vice president and then President of the Southern Graphics Council, the largest printmaking society in North America. She has also been awarded residencies at Frans Masareel Graphic Center in Kasterlee, Belgium and the Virginia Center of Creative Arts in Sweet Briar, VA. She has given numerous panel presentations at regional, national, and international conferences and symposiums including the Southeastern College Art Association in Richmond, VA in 1999, Print Odyssey conference in Cortona Italy in 2001, and the 2003 National Association for Humanities Conference in Austin, Texas. As an artist she has participated in several important portfolio exchanges, including Suite X, Printer’s Almanac, Tempe Suite, Images 2010, and Drawn to Stone, a celebration of Two Hundred Years of Lithography.
When asked about this exhibition, Cross said, “This represents a slice of the work I have been engaged with over the past five years having to do with values, which is an overarching theme of my studio practice. It addresses my concerns for nature and all living beings, how we treat one another, and the values from which we operate. Some methods for presenting these ideas use images of animals, news events, and media sources.”
“The work with animals include research and sometimes documentation of information that is intended to point towards a wider understanding of the status of particular species and the effect our culture and politics have on them.”
She continued, “The newer work I have included here is generated from media sources covering current events, fashion, Art, and interior design. I first create collages from these sources and then represent them in various hand print processes, sometimes adding text. I find the translation into these processes facilitates a physical presence that the commercial printing cannot provide.”
“Whether it is mashing up couture fashion alongside a slick add for fine art or a political ad placed next to a reproduction of unaffordable expensive jewelry, I cannot escape the commentaries inherent. A critique is delivered through the added text or title. Sometimes for the sake of levity I feel compelled to pair the collages with an image of wildlife. I refer to this work as cultural strata.”
“Sydney A. Cross: Prints” is sponsored in part by South State Bank, Pickens Savings & Loan and Robinson Funeral Home, Crematory and Memorial Gardens. The Pickens County Museum of Art & History is funded in part by Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Located at the corner of Hwy. 178 at 307 Johnson Street in Pickens SC, the museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Admission is free but donations are welcomed.
For more information please contact the museum at (864) 898-5963 or visit us at www.pickenscountymuseum.org <http://www.pickenscountymuseum.org> . For this and many more events in Pickens County visit www.visitpickenscounty.com/calendar <http://www.visitpickenscounty.com/calendar> .
