ROY presents: Christy Wittmer

Holding Still

Holding Still is a body of work that addresses impermanence.  It heaps the inconsequential with the hand-formed to challenge expectations of function and notions of stability. It balances industrial bricks with the materiality of clay to examine the fragility of life and resilience of objects. Holding Still is an anti-monument that acknowledges the temporary equilibrium of the present moment. 

ROY Asks

what is your name and preferred pronouns

Christy Wittmer (she/her)

how has art (whether it be your own or art in general) changed you? 

Art gives me a framework for understanding what I experience in the world and the tools to respond. 

how did you start your artistic practice? 

I majored in painting and sculpture as an undergraduate, but I was curious about many different materials and techniques. I discovered ceramics during my final year of college. After I graduated I kept taking ceramics classes anywhere I could find them. My current practice of building sculptures from clay and other materials developed in graduate school where I also began to understand how my work fits into the context of art history and contemporary art. 

when a first-time viewer sees your work, what is the first word that you hope they think when looking at it?

I hope they have a feeling of being aware of their body and where it is in space. I want there to be the tension of wanting to get a closer look but not wanting to knock anything over.