artist information – lynngraznak.com

contact: lynngraznak@outlook.com

statement

I make art from the collision of disparate, even opposing elements: knitting, weaving, stitchery, several felting techniques, printing original photos on silk, doll making, 3d collage, wood and metal construction, all in combination with original poetry, fiction and micro-fiction. Currently, I’m taking a detour (playing a side quest?) into the world of stop motion film making. I use quite a lot of “repurposed” material, which sounds nicer than “trash.”

For nearly 40 years I was primarily a mother and homemaker and I deeply loved that time. After my youngest child went to college, I began to experiment with using my accumulated craft skills to speak in my own art-voice . Although I was raised in the Midwest and taught to be polite, I soon discovered that dark, angry and sad voices are ok to use– even for women– even for OLD women .

Twelve years ago I left my former life and moved to rural New England. I am working on many new storytelling projects that will express the beauty and joy I have found here, however, I do not intend to abandon dark surrealism for banal prettiness in sculpture, fiction writing or in film.

Although largely self-taught, I have a few semesters of college-level training in fine art (Stephens College and the University of Missouri) . I have also learned from some remarkably skilled craftpersons. I work in an intuitive manner, unwilling to give up either the narrative or sculptural elements of my work . I put a great deal of time into each piece, striving for a multi-leveled dialogue between the surreal and the mundane.

Roger Cardinal describes outsider artists as having “profound strangeness and integrity”– that’s my aspiration. I will keep smashing the rocks of many art and craft forms together, hoping to strike sparks.

shows

July 2009, “Demented Little Rabbits”, DUO SHOW with Fran Lakatos, at Cranky Yellow, St. Louis, MO
August 2009, “Sew What”, Flax Gallery at Art Dimensions, St. Louis, MO
October 2009, “Halloween Art Show and Party”, Koken Art Factory, St. Louis, MO
October 2009, “Damned II”, international juried show, Tangent Gallery, Detroit, MI
November 2009, “Danse Macabre III” in London and Nottingham, England
January 2010, “Sense of Self”, Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO
February 2010, “Tall Stories”, Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO
March 2010, “Inspired Art Project”, St. Louis, MO
April 2010, “A Book About Death”, MOMA, Machynlleth, Wales
June 2010, “The Visual Word”, Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO Summer 2010, “Generation of Genocide” (movie), wearable pieces and other pieces being used
August 2010, “Crusty Old Punks” at Catacombs/Artlandish Gallery, Columbia, MO
October 2010, “Damned III”, Detrioit, MI, international juried show, Tangent Gallery, Detroit, MI
October 2010, “A Book About Death”, Belknap Mill, Laconia, NH
December 2010, “Bedtime Stories”, Berlin Theater, Columbia, MO
January 2011, “Hybrid Identity”, Columbia Art League, Columbia, MO
March-May 2011, SOLO SHOW at Ashby-Hodge Gallery, Central Methodist University, Fayette, MO. Piece was purchased by the gallery.
October 2011, “Damned IV”, Detroit, MI, international juried show, Tangent Gallery, Detroit, MI
January 2012, “The Seven Deadly Sins”, Columbia Art League (“Baba Yaga” juried 1st place). Columbia, MO)
January 2012, show of acquisitions by the gallery, Ashby-Hodge Gallery, Central Methodist University, Fayette, MO.
June 2012, “Poisoned Apples”, Funhouse Gallery, Detroit, MI
October 2012, “Damned V”, Detroit, MI, international juried show, Tangent Gallery, Detroit, MI
October 2013, “Damned VI”, Detroit, MI, international juried show, Tangent Gallery, Detroit, MI
October 2013 and -October 2014, “Local Color”, Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, VT
December 2013 and December 2014, “Small Works”, Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, VT
October 2014, “Damned VII”, Detroit, MI, international juried show, Tangent Gallery, Detroit, MI
April and July 2014, juried shows at Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, VT
February 2015, “The Cheesy Show”, 42 Maple Gallery, Bethlehem, NH
April 2015, SOLO SHOW, “Real Swell Stories”, 42 Maple Gallery, Bethlehem, NH
May-September 2015, group shows at 42 Maple Gallery, Bethlehem, NH
October 2015, SOLO SHOW, “The Beautiful Light of Burning Bridges”, Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, VT
October 2015, “Damned VIII”, international juried show, Tangent Gallery, Detroit, MI
November 2016, “Cadavre Exquis”, DUO SHOW with Trissa Tilson, 42 Maple Gallery, Bethlehem, NH
October 2017, “Local Colors” show at Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, VT
May 2018, SOLO SHOW, “Exploding Brain: Post-Stroke Artwork”, Neurology Conference, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH
October 2019, “Local Colors” show at Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, VT
October 2019, “Damned XII”, international juried show, Tangent Gallery, Detroit, MI
February 2020, Entartete Kunst 2020, 42 Maple Arts, Bethlehem, NH
October 2020, “Damned– virtual”, international juried show, Tangent Gallery, Detroit, MI
March 2022, “Mud Season” show at Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, VT
April 2022, “Poemtown”, SOLO SHOW, Bradford Library, Bradford, VT
February 2023, “2 Sentence Stories” show, Blake Library, Corinth, VT
May 2023, “I Dream the Ghosts of Houses”, MULTIMEDIA SOLO SHOW, Junction Arts and Media, White River Junction, VT
June 2023, “The Cow Show”, Main Street Museum, White River Junction, VT
June 2023, “Unbound” (Bookstock event), Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, VT
September 2024, Pop Up Show at Tarleton Castle, Bath, NH
October 2024, “Local Colors” show at Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, VT

publications

Spring 2024, Chthonic Matter Quarterly, “She Caught His Eye”
Winter 2024, Flash Fiction Magazine, “The Last of the English Majors”
Summer 2026, Chthonic Matter Quarterly, “Playing Out Late Down Home

film

October 2024, Halloween-O-Thon at Junction Arts and Media, White River Junction, VT, Audience Choice Award and Best Prop Design Award for first seven minutes of “Discarded Dolls At the End of the World”