An Interview with Cree Bruins

After giving a gallery talk at the Danforth Museum of Art, artist Cree Bruins sat down and spoke with teen docent Shireen Abrishamian about her exhibit 'Projecting Into the Past', what she’s learned throughout eight years of art school, and the present-day effects of watching her father work in the dark room as a little girl.

SA: Do you like to experiment in your work and capture moments of spontaneity or do you prefer a structure and plan when you design an image?

CB: Well I actually like to think I have two bodies of work. One is much more formal, where I think about my process before I start. The other is much more abstract. With some of the drawing pieces I had an idea where I was going with it whereas with a lot of the film it was just totally a surprise that came out of the dark room. I love that… the spontaneity. But then again sometimes it’s nice to have a more formal approach as well; you have an idea, you work it through, and you see how it can come out using the right materials such as with the iris prints. It’s an investigation in that respect.

SA: You also love the tactile-ness.

CB: Yes! You can tell- all of that cutting and pasting and poking.

SA: Can you explain the process for creating some of the iris prints?

CB: I have a good relationship with a lot of the labs here in Boston, most of which now have closed, so things are getting lean but I’m tapping my friends for their film pieces. Once I get the pieces of film I put them on a light box and find the ones that I feel are more exciting for the film itself or for the color, design or just something about them that’s appealing. Then I scan them [digitally] and if there’s dust or anything on it that I feel is distracting for the image, I will clean it up. Sometimes I’ll pump the colors if I feel it can be enhanced slightly, but I try to keep the image as true to how I found it. Then once I’ve got it ready I’ll take it to a person I work with who has an iris printer and they print them up for me.

SA: In your work, do you try to create pieces that intrigue the mind or entertain the eye? As in, do you prefer people to go up to your pieces and think about them or have the pieces there to view as something interesting?

CB: I think its nature for the eyeball to see first… you have to be grabbed. A lot of times if you walk by something it will first catch your eye. Visually, I think it is important [to be interesting]- something interesting has to be there. But I also love [personally] having something up that is makes you question like “how did they do that?” or “what material is this?” or “what was the process or the concept?” I think [those questions] are very important as well. Some of my most successful pieces aren’t particularly beautiful per se, but they’re very thoughtful. But I think it’s also important to have something that pulls the audience in to take that first look.

SA: What pulls you in? Shapes or colors or… landscapes?

CB: I’m very attracted to [what is] minimal and abstract. I love the beautiful colors that are presented by chance on the film. Its funny cause in art school when I first started I was monochromatic. Everything was black and white and I rarely used colors. It was through working with this film that excited me with colors.

SA: And [the colors] are always unique.

CB: Yes, that’s right, all of them.

SA: So, in eight years of art school what was the most valuable thing that you learned?

CB: That’s a toughie! I think it’s to keep going, don’t get discouraged. Many times you think “why I am doing this it’s just not working.” I think it’s important to [sometimes] step back and put [the project] away. I think it’s best to have several projects so if I get really frustrated with something I can walk away from it, do something that else that excites me, and more times than not I’ll come back to that thing that was driving me nuts and I’ll look at it and think “whoa that’s not so bad,” and then something else will spark. But I think it’s really important to keep your eyeballs open and keeping listening. As far as the actual projects, finding materials or a subject that excites you. Listen to yourself and find something that does excites you and start investigating it. Because usually, intuitively, you know what you want inside.

SA: Did you have any specific inspirations for 'Projecting into the Past'? Such as another artist or music, or did you just watch everything unfold?

CB: I think it’s dual. I think it does unfold the more you work with a particular material. The more you see the more you learn about it; you become familiar with the characteristics. So in that sense, it’s important to pursuit something if it intrigues you. It’s also important [for me] to have a sense of art history and to look at other artists. Like I said I’m really inspired by minimalists and conceptual work. Agnes Martin’s work has inspired some of my work. [Piet] Mondrian with his very simple black lines and colors inspired my work. So I think the more that you see and know about [other artists] might suggest something that you can try in your own work. But I think it’s both.

SA: When you were a little girl, watching your dad work with photography, did you ever think you’d be an artist someday?

CB: Not at that point but I think it contributed to my randomness. I’ve always been intrigued with doing creative things… just looking around, looking at nature, I appreciate beauty. When I was thinking about going to college, I was thinking about doing graphic design and at the time my dad said “Oh no you need to do something that you can provide money for yourself if you need it.” So I went into nursing and I think that was a good field for me for a while. But as you change, I think you also go back to your roots of wanting to do something more creative in the arts. Going to art school at an older age I had a larger well to draw from in experience. In my case it took me four years instead of eight years to go through school and I started late, so I came in with a different perspective but I think in my case it helped.

SA: There’s no better time than now.

CB: Anytime! It’s never too late!

SA: Are there other art mediums that you appreciate equally?

CB: I totally appreciate painting. I’ve never really done [it] so I’m in awe of people that can. I’m taking some of my materials now (the film) and playing with some of the same qualities of paintings. I’m trying to capture that slow process of creating a painting with light and color and using the film that I’m using now as a pallet. And instead of the more instant idea that is suggested with photography I’m trying to display it as more of a process with the suggestion of a painting, with the same style of an artist like Agnes Martin. I actually have four for five different artists now that I’m thinking about and want to translate their painterly style into my material.

SA: The way you blend colors in some of your pieces [I find] can really resemble painting. Do you ever hang up any of your own pieces at home?

CB: Oh for sure (laughs). I think its fun too to have your own art because you see it in a different light. I also like to have other people’s art in the house. It’s nice to be surrounded by it; it makes you think about things. At MIT, where I work, they have a student lottery program, and they have a collection of probably 300 pieces of well known artists. It’s a lottery in the beginning of the school year and students can have these pieces of art in their dorms for a year’s time. It’s a different perspective just looking at a piece of art and then living with a piece of art. It changes. And you become very familiar with it in a different way than if you just go by it.

SA: Like in a museum.

CB: Exactly. Well I prefer museums, where at least you can take your time whereas in a lot of galleries, it’s a lot more rushed.

SA: Any upcoming projects or ideas you’re working on now?

CB: Right now I have several pieces that I’m working on, some that I have scanned that will be in slide-show mode, and I’m working on making them look like sunrises and sunsets. Another is a process where [I have] some film [that] creates a line I'm doing a series of these that travel from piece to piece to piece, on iris prints with film and digital. [There’s] a lot of these painting pieces with the film as the medium of my “paint pallet.”

SA: Where can we see all of this when it’s finished?

CB: I believe there’s going to be a show here in a couple of years with more of my work. And let’s see… I’m working on a couple more projects but nothing is set in stone at the moment as far as where it’s going to be.

SA: Spontaneity.

CB: Yep, that’s right!




To find out more about Cree Bruins’ exhibit at the Danforth: http://www.danforthmuseum.org/cree_bruins.html

To view some of her works: http://www.barbarakrakowgallery.com/exhibition/exhibition_details.php?id=2114