Artist Statement
My work mainly serves as a reflection and critique of societal norms. I explore narratives that evoke emotional connections and reference aspects of existence. Through symbolism and allegory, I refer to what lies beneath the surface, using varying imagery. I create imaginative realms that defy logic but are directly influenced by my experiences. I also investigate different themes that affect people from all walks of life, concerning inequality and systemic oppression which include hostility, victimization, exclusion, exploitation, and withdrawal, all of which forms the roots of a spiritual rebirth.
Having had a nomadic experience and being split between two cultures and ways of thinking has led me to create hybrid forms and concepts, fusing both science and spirituality. I reference biblical imagery to create fantasy dreamscapes, visually engaging storylines to intrigue the viewer. I utilize scientific concepts that coincide with creating other worldly realms. I also paint the invisible internal and external forces that wage against the human psyche. I show this from the perspective of an unwanted female presence in a patriarchal society, revealing spaces designated to be without women. My intent is to orchestrate unpleasant experiences and create dialog through the manifestation of beautiful imagery.
Biography
"Crystal Marshall is a contemporary fine artist painter who lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, her paintings pay homage to her life's experiences rooted in cultural disparities in the modern-day African diaspora. Her distinctive personal style emanates isolation, self reflection and expresses the spirit and atmosphere of the black consciousness in efforts to reconcile its relationship with true identity and image.
Symbolic motifs such as wool, thorns, hair, figurative and allegorical representations are just some of the visual tools used to express displacement, hostility, victimization, exclusion, oppression and withdrawal. As the artist explains, “I am a storyteller and I welcome the viewer to be a part of this visual journey, to share in my experience.”
She earned a Bachelor of General Fine arts degree from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland and also studied fine arts at Edna Manley College of Art in Kingston, Jamaica. She received a full scholarship for an exchange program at Pont Aven School of Contemporary art in France where she showcased her work in a group exhibit. Currently she’s pursuing her MFA in painting at SCAD University.
Crystal's artwork has been shown in exhibitions such as "Intersectionality Theory" at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, group exhibit. n addition, Crystal has showcased her works with Startart Fair at the renowned Saatchi Gallery in the United Kingdom."
Crystal Marshall
b. 1983, Long-Island, New York
Lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia
Savannah College of Art and Design, MFA Painting, GPA 4.0, 2025
Zayed University, United Arab Emirates, Dubai 2008
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore Maryland 2006 -2008 B.F.A. General Fine Arts
Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art, Pont Aven, France 2006
Edna Manley College of Art, Kingston, Jamaica 2003- 2005
RESIDENCIES:
2023 Vermont Studio Center, Creative Connections - Art and Writing as Lifestyle, Johnson, Vermont
Ox-Bow Art Virtual Residency, Conversations in Practice with Angelik Vicarrondo-Laboy, Saugatuck, MI
2022 Cynosure in Psychogeography | Arts Letters & Numbers artist Residency
Ox-Bow Art Virtual Residency, Conversations in Practice with Alison Glenn, Saugatuck, MI
2021 World of Co Online Artist Residency, Sofia Bulgaria
The St. Petersburg Art Residency (SPAR)Virtual studio, St Petersburg, Russia
2020 The St. Petersburg Art Residency (SPAR)Virtual studio, St Petersburg, Russia
SELECTED ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS:
2024 SCAD Senior Thesis Exhibition, Trois Gallery, Atlanta, GA (forthcoming)
2023 Clio Art Fair NYC 2023, Clio Art Fair, New York, New York
Vestibule 102, Chrysler Museum of Art Glass Studio, Norfolk, Virginia
2022 CICA Contemporary Art Solo Series, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
2021 STARTnet Art Fair Solo Booth, Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2024 The Art of Water VIII, James May Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Fifth Southeast Regional Exhibition, LaGrange Art Museum, LaGrange, Georgia
Artistic Resurgence, Celebrating Creativity, Oceanside Museum of Art Alliance/Ashton Gallery, San Diego, California
Annual Juried Exhibition 2023, International Museum of Art & Science, McAllen, Texas
2023 2023 Address Earth, Hudson Valley Museum of Art, Peekskill, New York (curated by Bibiana Huang Matheis)
Painting People, Gutstein Gallery, Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, Georgia
The Members Show 2023, Pensacola Museum of Art, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida
First Note, Project Gallery V, New York, New York (Curated by Faust Luo)
Windows to the Inside, virtual exhibit, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
Alexander Ink, Alexander Hall, Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, Georgia
Lush, Artist Alliance, Artsy.net, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Above + Below, Artist Alliance, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Nyctophobia, The Fear of Darkness, FC Collective, Artsy.net, Atlanta Georgia
2022 Contemporary Landscape 2022, CICA Contemporary Art Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
The Crown We Never Take off, FC Collective, Miami, Florida (Curated by Donnamarie Baptiste)
Spectrum Miami 2022/ Red Dot Art Fair, Miami, Florida
Mother Nature, Artist Alliance, Santa Fe, New Mexico
The Patriot, O’flaherty’s NYC, New York, New York
Metro Montage XXII, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta GA
Supernatural, Gutstein Gallery, Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, Georgia
Undercurrent, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut (Curated by Kristina Newman-Scott )
The Members Show 2022, Pensacola Museum of Art, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida
Black Anatomy, Spartanburg Museum, Spartanburg, North Carolina
The Body Language 2022, ItsLiquid, Venice, Italy
Being Human, Grandview Avenue Gallery at AAC, Atlanta, Georgia (Juried by Kevin
Chambers)
2021 Form 2021, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
Tokyo International Art Fair, Belle Salle Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan
Small Works Show, Grandview Avenue Gallery at AAC, Atlanta, Georgia (Juried by Linda LeTard)
“Us All”, Brookfield Craft Center Lynn Tendler Bignell Gallery, Brookfield Conneticut
Annual Postcard Pin-up Show, MINT Gallery, Atlanta GA
Barcelona Art Expo,Valid World Hall, Artbox.Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
Art in the Time of Corona, Vol.2 , Dab Art Gallery at Artsy.net, Los Angeles, Ventura
Virtual Exhibit, Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem, New York (Curated by Bibiana Huang Matheis)
The Era of Change, Visionary Projects, New York, New York
Dreaming of Equ>lity, Reynolds Gallery, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California
Artbox.project World 1.0, Artbox.Gallery, Switzerland, Zurich
2020 Covid.19 The Art of Isolation/Survey 3, Curator’s Voice Art Projects, Miami, Florida (Juried by Dr. Milagros Bello, Lieska Husband, Maura Morandi)
it’s a small world: A Virtual Community Art Exhibition, The Walt Disney Family Museum, Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall, San Francisco, California (Juried Exhibition)
Crisis Mode Virtual Exhibit, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, California (Juried by Lucia Olubunmi Momoh)
Art2Life International Juried Virtual Exhibition (Juried by Julie Nester)
The FL3TCH3R Exhibit: Socially & Politically Engaged Art, Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee (Curated by Carlton Wilkinson)
Virtual Exhibit, Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem, New York (Curated by Bibiana Huang Matheis)
Reality or Abstraction, Grandview Avenue Gallery at AAC, Atlanta, Georgia (Juried by Erin Bailey)
Crush Walls Billboard Exhibition, Save Art Space at Dateline Gallery, Denver, Colorado (Curated by Thomas “Detour” Evans & Lorenzo Scott)
International Contemporary Art Fair- Art 3f, Vangogh Art Gallery, Luxembourg-Kirchberg
Paper Girl BK , Brooklyn Art Project exhibition, Brooklyn, NY
Swiss Art Expo, SBB Event Hall, Artbox.Gallery, Switzerland, Zurich
Back to the Drawing Board, Grandview Avenue Gallery at AAC, Atlanta, Georgia
(Juried by Chin Cheng Hung)
2019 Miami Art Basel, Artbox.Gallery at Eduardo Lira Art Gallery, Miami, Florida
Swiss Art Expo, SBB Event Hall, Artbox.Gallery, Switzerland, Zurich
2016 Intersectionality Theory, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami, Florida
2009 Transformers II- More Than Meets The Eye, Gateway Gallery MICA, Baltimore, Maryland
2008 Honorable Verna L. Jones Black Student Union Exhibit, Baltimore, Maryland
2007 Honorable Verna L. Jones Black Student Union Exhibit, Baltimore, Maryland
2006 Pont Aven Student Exhibit, Pont Aven, France
AWARDS:
2023 Ox-Bow, Virtual Residency, full scholarship, Saugatuck, MI
2022 Ox-Bow, Virtual Residency, full scholarship, Saugatuck, MI
SCAD Academic Honors, Achievement Honors & eLearning Scholarship, Atlanta GA
2021 The Denis Diderot [A-i-R] Grant, Chateau d’ Orquevaux, France
2020 The FL3TCH3R Exhibit, Award of Merit, Johnson City, Tennessee
Reality or Abstraction, 1st Place Award, Grandview Gallery at AAC, Atlanta GA
Back to The Drawing Board, Honorable Mention, Grandview Gallery at AAC, Atlanta GA
2006 Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art, full scholarship
CHARITY AUCTIONS:
2023 Art Auction & 20th Anniversary Party, Gallery Aferro, Newark, New Jersey
2021 ACLU of Texas & Planned Parenthood, Greenhouse Auction, Austin, Texas
Out of Order 2021, Online Auction, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, Maryland
WRITING
2024 Harvard Art Museums Handbook, June 2024, (forthcoming)
BIBLIOGRAPHY/ PUBLICATIONS:
2024 Artdaily, Crystal Marshall’s Blackbody: A Journey into the Mind through Dreamscapes, April
Medium Magazine, Crystal Marshall’s Afro-Caribbean Artistry Radiates with Cultural Fusion, March
2023 Aesthetica Magazine, Issue 114, August/September, York, United Kingdom
New American Paintings, No. 166, South Issue, p. 102-107, Boston, MA
Tutor, Zach, Supersonic New Contemporary Art, Featured Artist, February
2022 The Root, What’s Black At Art Basel? December
Art in the Time of Corona, Vol 2, Los Angeles, California
New American Paintings, No. 160, South Issue, p. 108 -111, Boston, MA
World of Interiors, London, United Kingdom, p. 179, November Issue
CICA Art Now 2022, Gimpo Korea, p. 98-101 September
Chapman Cultural Center, Spartanburg, South Carolina
VAC New Visionary Magazine, Featured artist, Issue 1,New York, New York, p. 52 January
2021 Curatorial Volume.3, Leaders in Contemporary Art, Capsules Books, Melbourne, Australia, July 2021
STARTnet Art Fair exhibition catalogue 2021
The Flux Review Magazine, Featured artist, London , UK
Joshi, Gita, The Curators Salon Magazine, Art Seen Issue 1, London, UK, p.133 May
Visionary Collective, Artist Interview, New York, New York
Dreaming of Equ>ity Artist Panel, University of the Pacific, Stockton California
2020 St. Petersburg Art Residency, VirtualSPAR zine/catalogue
The FL3TCH3R Exhibit, exhibition catalogue
Save Art Space for Crushwalls, September
Matheis, Frank, In Other Words, Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem, New York, Vol 1, No. 6, October
Booooooom Magazine, Artist Spotlight, August
ARTIST TALK/LECTURE
2022 “Nyctophobia”, The Fear of Darkness, FC Collective, Atlanta, Georgia
"Undercurrent”, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut
”In Our Time”, Spartanburg Museum of Art & Spartanburg Library lecture series, Spartanburg, South Carolina
2021 Middle Temple Hall, Parliament Chambers, Guest Artist Speaker, London, UK
Dreaming of Equ>ity Artist Panel, University of the Pacific, Stockton California
“Us All”, Brookfield Craft Center Lynn Tendler Bignell Gallery, Brookfield Conneticut
AFFILIATIONS & MEMBERSHIP
Extraction Art on the Edge of the Abyss
