Cynthia Mason is one of three artists being featured by The Baker Museum of Art in its 12th Annual Florida Contemporary exhibition. Mason’s three-dimensional wall constructions evolved organically from her early training, as Museum Director Courtney McNeil explains.
“She was trained as an architect, and is really interested in the concept of the grid as a method of control and creating order and structure, and then … taking that structure and subverting it and destabilizing the grid by making these soft grids out of textiles.”
Mason’s wall constructions are highly textured, which she accomplishes by using creative combinations of repurposed materials.
“She uses a lot of repurposed textiles in her work, old bedsheets, comforters,” McNeil said. “She uses shredded documents and junk mail as stuffing for some of her works, and she’s really interested in this idea of trying to exert control on the world at times when it can feel incredibly futile to try and do so.”
Mason’s use of repurposed materials and repetitive shapes and grids is very compatible with the top of the tower of Louise Nevelson’s “Dawn’s Forest,” which her work surrounds. That’s no accident.
“It’s important to get artists to come visit our sites ahead of time so that they can understand the site lines and what we mean when we say, ‘There’s a giant Chihuly in that gallery’ or ‘There’s a massive Louise Nevelson coming up from the floor in the middle of the gallery.’ These are hard things to explain, even with great photos,” McNeil explained.
Florida Contemporary is on view through June 29.
MORE INFORMATION:
In addition to the order imposed by grids, Mason’s wall constructions also allude to forms found in plant life, such as roots, stems, leaves and thorns. Some invite comparisons to human anatomy, as with “Limp Pricks and Plants in Rising Water.”
In addition to recycled bedding and shredded documents, Mason incorporates fishing line, canvas, porcelain, gesso, ink, fabric and dyes into her mixed media wall constructions.
“My love for materials results in folding, rolling, attaching and stuffing porcelain, plaster, fabrics, shredded paper and other mediums in haphazard and makeshift methods,” writes Mason in her artist statement. “I love to reveal how materials repel to merge, ooze and crack, how they patina and shift to show their existence.”
Mason received her BFA from Ringling College of Art and her MFA from the University of South Florida. In addition to a recent residency with the Jentel Artists Residency Program (2024), Mason completed residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts (2023) and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (2023).
Her work has been featured in more than 50 group exhibitions around the world. Recent solo exhibitions include “Limp Grid” at Parallelogram Gallery in Tampa in 2018 and “Fragile State” at 621 Gallery in Tallahassee in 2017.
For more on “Florida Contemporary, visit WGCU.org to hear/read “Baker Museum’s ‘Florida Contemporary’ exposes local people to new work by state’s leading visual artists.”
For information on “Florida Contemporary” artist Marielle Plasir, listen/read “Marielle Plasir installation at The Baker Museum explores a legacy of colonialism.”
For information on “Florida Contemporary” artist Amer Kobaslija, listen/read “Jacksonville artist Amer Kobaslija’s paintings at Baker Museum explore Florida landscapes, people and history.”
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.