Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheryl Gross.
Hi Cheryl, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was always an artist. I attended the High School of Art & Design, which put me on track to becoming a professional. I started college but realized I needed a break from school, so I dropped out. I then embarked on a freelance illustration business. My professional career started back in my early 20s. Although met with ageism and sexism, I persevered. Freelancing was lucrative, but dealing with clients was challenging. Eventually, I decided to go back to college and finish my education. I wound up at Pratt Institute and was hired to teach a class. Several years later, I hold an MFA from Pratt, where I still teach. I am a full professor and a tenured adjunct. Although I have always exhibited my work, my focus has shifted from illustration to fine arts. I exhibit regularly.
We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As I said, ageism and sexism. Until recently, women were not taken seriously.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work provides a narrative that embraces socio-political topics of extinction, duplication, and the overlooked and maligned role of women in male-dominated occupations and culture, with a viewpoint replicating reality. Currently, I have 2 bodies of work that embrace social injustice (BoxingBabes & Cowgirls) and animal extinction (Commit to Memory: The Precipice of Extinction).
In my series, BoxingBabes & Cowgirls, I address the narrow portrayal of gender definition and duplication that TV provides by depicting our dreams and fantasies. Whatever the situation, it can still be contained in a television set. We dream we record, we escape from life, only to be drawn back to the reality of life. It is neither good nor bad. It is how we perceive and chronicle our stories. BoxingBabes & Cowgirls are a combined overview of female marginalization in definitively masculine professions and show the strength and tenacity of women who’ve achieved prominence in these vocations. In blending abstraction and realism, traditionally opposed artistic styles, I engage the viewer in a visual narrative that is easy to negotiate and resonates with a subject matter that vibrates with the same opposition.
Commit to Memory: The Precipice of Extinction is a multi-platform, social commentary addressing the shifting and eventual disappearance of our culture using animals as metaphors, with the overall goal being socially relevant and visually compelling.
Using animals on the endangered species list, I have created a multi-media graphic, audiovisual representation of society on the verge of collapse. Artistic depictions of animal species as victims illustrate the decline of the American democratic system. The use of the word “extinction” throughout the narrative is the blueprint of this project.
Can you talk to us about the role of luck?
Sometimes one is in the right place at the right time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cherylgross.net
- Instagram: cmmgross@Instagram.com
- Facebook: Cheryl.gross.144@facebook.com
