christopher russell

new york, new york, USa

Installation view of Christopher Russell: Ceramic Vessels & Painting at Julie Saul Gallery, New York, NY, April-June 2019. Left to right: Vessel #51, Vessel #52, Vessel #43, Vessel #44, Painting #1, Vessel #45, Vessel #46, Vessel #47. All works … — Installation view of ***Christopher Russell: Ceramic Vessels & Painting*** at Julie Saul Gallery, New York, NY, April-June 2019. Left to right: ***Vessel #51***, ***Vessel #52***, ***Vessel #43***, ***Vessel #44***, ***Painting #1***, ***Vessel #45***, ***Vessel #46***, ***Vessel #47***. All works 2019, glazed terracotta. Photo: Janet Abrams

Christopher Russell, Vessel #43, 2019, Glazed terracotta, 24” x 13.5”. Photograph: Janet Abrams — Christopher Russell, *Vessel #43*, 2019, Glazed terracotta, 24” x 13.5”. Photograph: Janet Abrams

Since my studio is closed and I can’t work in ceramics at home, I have returned to drawing. When it dawned on me that we were really going to be stuck inside for weeks, I got a pile of paper (I would soon be ordering more online-- and now I have to do it again!) I felt free when I began, I just wanted to take advantage of this hiatus. That there was no sense at all of how long the lockdown would be, which I had no control over, it gave time a sense of infinity: I could do anything. So I just started making drawings-- abstract, intuitive, mixed media. They changed everyday, and I just let them.

But the mood of the project is shifting now. Whereas at first my intention was to take advantage of this free time, as I’ve become more restless and more anxious to return to the studio, my drawing project is increasingly something that is helping me get through this tunnel of time, giving me something that makes me feel productive, or at least occupied. I think without it I would have felt this anxious and unproductive long before now!

I would like to finish this time with a portfolio of 12 to 15 cohesive drawings that would give the project a final shape. I want it to say “Coronavirus Drawings,” in gold serif type, on the cover.

During the lockdown, Christopher Russell has been making drawings in pencil, watercolor, ink and silkscreen, on 30” x 22“ ARCHES or BFK RIVES PAPER, forming a portfolio entitled CORONAVIRUS DRAWING.

**Christopher Russell, Drawing 1, March-April 2020**

Christopher Russell, Drawing 2 — **Christopher Russell,** ***Drawing 2***

Christopher Russell, Drawing 5, detail — **Christopher Russell, *Drawing 5,* detail**

Christopher Russell, Drawing 3, detail — **Christopher Russell**, *Drawing 3*, detail

Christopher Russell, Drawing 5 — **Christopher Russell**, ***Drawing 5***

Christopher Russell, Drawing 3 — Christopher Russell, *Drawing 3*

Christopher Russell, Drawing 4 — Christopher Russell, *Drawing 4*

BIO: christopher russell

Christopher Russell is originally from Massachusetts, USA, and now lives in New York City. He began his art career working primarily in drawing. Around 30 years ago, he started working in clay, first mostly producing custom tiles. About 15 years ago he shifted towards sculpture, with a long term project about bees and honey combs, later including flowers, fruits and birds. Recently he has changed direction again: making and decorating large vessel forms.

Chris normally works in a large communal studio, SculptureSpace NYC, in Queens. “My hands are always itching to make things: I do a lot of textile work. I’m determined that during our lockdown, I’m going to finish a quilt I’ve been working on for 20 years.”

SOCIAL MEDIA:

rusproject@pipeline.com

www.russellproject.com

rate of affection

Chris Russell nominates Linda Casbon