gwendolyn c. skaggs

chicken shit

2012-01-26T21:04:00.000-08:00

2011-05-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

(e)merge

2011-04-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

objet d'art objet (tit for tat)

2011-03-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

Polaroid, 8ply rag board, Filmoplast P90, mirror (copper and silver coating on glass), in artist's frame. 13 x 9 inches (overall dims.)

the title of this artwork is objet d'art objet (tit for tat). It was made specifically for WAGMAG, 10th anniversary, Benefit 2011, via SUGAR
"WAGMAG, Brooklyn Art Guide is a 501c nonprofit, and the only Brooklyn art guide that chronicles the art activities of art venues in Brooklyn, on a monthly basis. WAGMAG, a Brooklyn Art Guide was created for visitors, tourists and locals to keep up to date on the art in Brooklyn and discover new art venues. WAGMAG includes art events and venues free of charge so it can be all inclusive and show the fullest vision of what the galleries in Brooklyn are doing. Our annual benefit is crucial to the survival of WAGMAG, and a great way to see the varied nature of art that is being created and represented in Brooklyn."

420 character dream

2011-02-09T18:22:00.000-08:00

This Much Is True II (an epilogue to a true story)

2010-11-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

4 x 7 x 3 1/2 inches
Hazel hair, Sugar hair, bird seed, dust, and glitter

The blushing Boodah

2010-11-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

The blushing Boodah

cast slip, and Avon True Color powder blush (Classic Aura C)

made (under the pseudonym of Wendaferd Gregory) specifically for In and Out, an exhibition of art in black boxes curated by Mark Weathers (BETA Spaces).

Black box, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia-

In science and engineering, a black box is a device, system or object which can be viewed solely in terms of its input, output and transfer characteristic without any knowledge of its internal workings, that is, its implementation is "opaque" (black). Almost anything might be referred to as a black box: a transistor, an algorithm, or the human mind.

The blushing Boodah

So much depends on the moon, the stars, the gods, luck, energy, cards, palms, hope, and faith. More so than simply depending, and taking responsibility for, our own mind, as if to be ashamed of it.

I acquired the Buddha mold from my mother, a ceramicist. This mold is amongst molds of: a frog, a pair of praying hands, a dove, a tea cup, a large cob of corn, and a mushroom. The Avon blush belonged to my mother as well.

Glitter is the New Grass

2010-11-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

Glitter is the New Grass by Wendaferd Gregory, pseudonym for Gwendolyn Skaggs. It’s both tricky and sticky including oneself into a show at your own art space. But I did. For the one-year anniversary exhibit I wanted to make an artwork that exhibited the trials and tribulations of having and running such an endeavor in our living space. Glitter is the New Grass is an artwork about the labor, complexities, challenges, and satisfaction of maintaining and establishing an art exhibition space within a live/work environment, and the ability to present this act as an installation with the integrity of the “conventional gallery” and how doing so is somewhat of an invasion to our personal space. Making way to cut each hole in each closet without disturbing much of the immediate and neighboring surroundings was apropos, as was hitting my head on the pipe when retrieving something from the closets. The chair is evidence of items pushed out due to the need of more space. Balanced precariously against the wall with a glitter covered cracked seat the chair threatens to fall forward. A tricky situation when anyone desires to look through the protruding pipe to see what’s on the other side, and not knowing if they should or should not explore. I carefully placed blue glitter directly under the chairs seat crack into the cracks of the floor, like a Tibetan Buddhist making a sand mandala.

2008-06-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

resume

2008-06-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

Gwendolyn Skaggs
449 Troutman St. #3-5
Brooklyn, New York 11237
sugar@sugarbushwick.com

Education
Architectural Technology, Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis 1982-1985
Violin Restoration/Construction, Consort International at Indianapolis 1991-1994

Curatorial List
SUGAR (Founder and organizer September 2009 to present)
Alcove (Founder and organizer of 10 exhibitions Nov. 2006 - April 2008)
Town Hall Meeting (an Alcove project, May 2009 - Sept. 2009)

Exhibition List
Solo Alcove: New York, New York November 2006 A Poem

Group Matzo Files: New York, New York October 2004

Solo Five Ten Gallery: Indianapolis, Indiana May 1998
Mobius Strip, The Play Tunnel (Installation)

Group ATC Gallery: Chicago, Illinois March 1998
ParaFelt, Newton’s Cradle (Installation)

Solo Five Ten Gallery: Indianapolis, Indiana July 1997
Newton’s Cradle (Installation)

Group ATC Gallery: Chicago, Illinois November 1996
The Trickster (Juried), So Much Depends Upon...#2 (Installation)

Group ATC Gallery: Chicago, Illinois September 1996
The Mobile Museum (Installation)

Group Hot House Gallery: Indianapolis, Indiana July 1996
Marionette’s

Group Indianapolis Children’s Museum: Indianapolis, Indiana 1996
Marionette’s

Solo Midland Art Center: Indianapolis, Indiana December 1996
Black and White Photographs

Solo The Mobile Museum: Indianapolis Indiana March 1996
Self Storage (Installation)

Solo Utrillo’s Gallery: Indianapolis, Indiana October 1995
Fearing Kisses and Ghosts (Photographs and mixed media)

Solo Utrillo’s Gallery: Indianapolis, Indiana April 1995
World in Balance

Bibliography
SUGAR
Alcove:
ARTslant
NYC info
New York Portraits

BIO
I was born to a carpenter and an artist/activist/homemaker in Indiana, right smack-dab in the middle of the middle class and white America. I am number 7 of 8. On a really good day my mother called me Wendaferd. I have a sidekick, his name is Willie. On a really good day he calls me Darlin'. We have 2 children, they both have four legs. Their names are Hazel and Sugar. I have three caged birds and they still sing. I am an artist and the founder of SUGAR (www.sugarbushwick.com). I thought I wanted to be a draftsman. I chose to explore art. I went from Indiana to Southern California, and back to Indiana. I tried Chicago and Baltimore. I wanted extreme diversity, deep tones and rich contrast. New York is a nice fit. A good challenge. A great competitor. When I create art of any medium I trust my intuitions, I am driven by the "tug and pull" effect (both physically and metaphorically).

I take photographs that explain what I am thinking. The image becomes a drawing of my conclusions. Within the captured moment lie my notions and opinions about the world I live. Cropping happens in the lens, eliminating unnecessary words, while enriching others that remain within the frame. My cameras are as modest and unassuming as my images, it is my intention- as are the results.

Elephant Ears

Gwendolyn Skaggs:
Nuvo News Weekly May 21-28, 1998 J. Pratt McQuist The Play Tunnel

Indianapolis Star May 10, 1998 Steve Mannheimer The Play Tunnel

Indianapolis Star April 26, 1998 S. L. Berry The Mobile Museum, The Play Tunnel

Nuvo News Weekly July 31-Aug 7 1997 J . Pratt McQuist Newton’s Cradle

Indianapolis Star July 27, 1997 Steve Mannheimer Newton’s Cradle

Indianapolis Star April 9, 1995 Steve Mannheimer World in Balance

Publications
Flying Island Fall/Winter 1995-1996 Vol. 4 No. 1 (Photographs)

2008-06-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

BE NICE

2008-06-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

graphite on wood panel 8 1/2" x 11" x 2"

slice of life

2008-06-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

newton's cradle

2008-04-11T22:00:00.000-07:00

press

newtons cradle review

equilibrium

2008-04-10T00:13:00.000-07:00

small mobiles suspended in closets of an abandoned apartment building. painted square with blue chalk line border.

mobile museum

2008-04-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

mobile museum detail

2008-04-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

mobile museum detail/closet

2008-04-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

stars and stripe

2008-03-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

6in x 8in x 2in (ink jet prints on 4 sides (The Greater New York Billy Graham Crusade Flushing Meadows Corona Park 06/26/05), latex paint/plaster, graphite, and blood on wood) 2008

podunk

2008-03-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

the play tunnel

2008-03-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

press

the play tunnel review

the conception of newton's cradle

2008-03-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

nurture nature #1

2008-03-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

television and tree balancing one another. suspended in room of an abandoned apartment building. image on screen: photograph of tree in it's original surroundings before uprooting.

nurture nature #2

2008-03-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

a pail of milk powder balancing a bird cage with light and live finch. suspended in room of an abandoned apartment building

the virtue of selfishness

2008-03-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

detail

detail

detail

a bottle of water with glass ball balancing a hand drill piercing a nest and then a fallen egg. suspended in room of an abandoned apartment building.

untitled (chicago warehouse 1996)

2008-03-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

sowing

2008-03-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

a bottle of grass/seed and soil balancing a wrench balancing a bird cage which is balancing a nut and bolt. suspended in a room of an abandoned apartment building.

a poem

2008-03-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

haiku

2008-03-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

diptychs

2008-03-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

oil pastels

2008-02-28T08:35:00.000-08:00