Untitled Diptych (Paper Napkin Mask), 2023
On the left, an overhead shot of a handmade mug with a fresh teabag bleeding out into the water
On the right, an almost thirteen year old kid peeks through a hole in a disposable napkin, their mouth open with tongue hanging out below a tear in the paper
Rotten Ice, 2023
Ceramics, crystals grown on home-spun silk, 12 x 8 x 8 in 
Image by Vivian Marie Doering. Courtesy of Catalyst Contemporary. 
Search results for shape (collaboration with worms), 2023
Ceramics, worm-eaten paper pulp, beeswax, Dimensions variable (3 sculptures roughly 8 x 6 x 10 in each)
 
It's not a lesson for you in how to be different, 2023
Ceramics, paper pulp, acrylic magnifier, 6 x 6 x 7 in
It's not a lesson for you in how to be different, 2023
Ceramics, paper pulp, acrylic magnifier, 6 x 6 x 7 in
Untitled Diptych (Dill, JB’s Gift) 2022


Misery / [Music], 2023
Ceramics, acrylic magnifier, 6 x 7 x 9 in
Insomnia Drawing 293, 2018
Watercolor on Paper, 5 x 7 in
Hungry Eyes, 2023
Ceramics, wood, worm-eaten paper pulp, 4 x 5 x 9 in
Dental Floss Weaving (Reach Mint Waxed) 2020
Dental Floss, 72 x 72 in. 

Insomnia Drawing 471, 2021
Watercolor on Paper, 5 x 7 in
Pneumonia Weaving, 2020
Woven Dental Floss and Monofilament, 2 x 2 in.


Dental Floss Weaving (Reach Total Care) 2020
Dental Floss and Monofilament, 4 x 4 in. 
Insomnia Drawing 469, 2020
Watercolor on Paper, 5 x 7 in.
Untitled Diptych (Herring Run), 2020

Dental Floss Weaving (Oral-B Superfloss) 2020
Dental Floss, 4 x 4 in. 


While weaving with dental floss, I contemplate the relationships between production, consumption, vulnerability, and care. Dental floss, a material used for the care and maintenance of the mouth, is made from materials that devastatingly pollute oceans. As I am teaching my children to care for their gums and teeth, I am also contributing to a global crisis of ecological collapse. These works are a meditation on how an act of care in one direction can cause harm in another, and therefore become a metaphor for how harm and care are interwoven.
Insomnia Drawing 467,  2020
Watercolor on Paper, 5 x 7 in
Untitled Diptych (Jackie’s Chair), 2019



Insomnia Drawing 428, 2019
Watercolor on Paper, 5 x 7 in
Light Emitting Study, 2018
Electrical Circuits, Wood, Paper, Polymer Clay, Fiber Optics.
Insomnia Drawing 396, 2018
Watercolor on Paper, 5 x 7 in
or, if there be flooding, 2017
Elecrical circuitry, soft stitched sculptures, painted twigs, plastic trash, paint, digitally printed fabric.

or, if there be flooding
serves as an imagined response plan to a potential catastrophe. The title of this piece is a fragment from Advice to a Wife and Mother, published in 1878. Flooding, in the context of the book, refers to postpartum hemorrhaging. However, this euphemistic language can be more literally interpreted to reference natural disasters or rising sea levels. Blinking lights aimed at shadowy vignettes of accumulated detritus in the installation signal tenderly to the viewer a warning, a lament.

or, if there be flooding, 2017

As a part of the programming for this exhibition, I presented a hybrid performance/artist talk around the theme of Nap Time. I covered the floor of the installation with mattresses and blankets and spoke and sang lullabies to visitors.


usually better than getting, 2017
Electrical circuitry, found materials installed in a dining room china hutch. Dimensions variable.
usually better than getting, 2017
usually better than getting, 2017
usually better than getting  (Installation View), 2017
A selection of micro sculptures made of wire, polymer clay, and scraps installed in the dining room of a 1940s bungalo
usually better than getting (detail), 2017
Micro sculptures made of tape and plastic, polymer clay, wire, and trash
Insomnia Drawing 395, 2018
Watercolor on Paper, 5 x 7 in
Light Emitting Study, 2016
Electrical Circuitry, wood, soft stitched form, paper. 12 x 14 x 8 in


Taking cues from baby nursery designs, these sculptures represent early investigations into the complexities of care-taking. Relying on both cerebral and sensual faculties, I combined tiny blinking electrical circuits with simple materials. Sensors integral to the circuits respond to ambient light and change the frequency at which the lights blink. I free-form soldered the circuits into sculptural compositions and then augmented them with art materials, brightly colored trash, and cheap craft supplies. The resultant amalgamations respond to the environment, signaling tenderly and playfully to the viewer.
Light Emitting Study (Detail), 2016
Light Emitting Study, 2017
Electrical circuitry, wood, paper, tape, string. Approximately 12 x 10 x 6 in.
Light Emitting Study (detail), 2017
Untitled Diptych (Peony), 2017
Light Emitting Study, 2016
Electrical Circuitry, wood, soft stitched form. 14 x 14 x 6 in
Insomnia Drawing 106, 2017
Watercolor on Paper, 5 x 7 in
Insomnia Drawing 47, 2016
Ink on Paper, 5 x 7 in
Insomnia Drawing 28, 2016
Ink on Paper, 5 x 7 in


Inspired by the Insomnia Drawings of Louise Bourgeois, I make drawings by the light of my phone whenever I awake in the middle of the night. 
Viewfinders, 2016
Tiny sculptures installed inside of souvenir photo viewing scopes. 
Viewfinders, 2016
Tiny sculptures installed inside of souvenir photo viewing scopes. 
Light Emitting Study, 2016
Electrical Circuitry, wood, soft stitched form. 12 x 24 x 8 in.
Light Emitting Studies, 2015
Electrical Circuitry, wood, soft stitched forms. Dimensions variable.
Light Emitting Studies (Detail), 2015
Electrical Circuitry, wood, soft stitched forms. Dimensions variable.
Flexible Instincts, 2015
Sculptures made using found materials on glass and “bird tape” a material used to prevent bird collions on glass buildings. Dimensions variable.
Flexible Instincts (Detail), 2015
Flexible Instincts (Detail), 2015
Light Emitting Study, 2013
Electrical circuitry, paper, wood, embroidery. 7 x 5 x 5 in
Light Emitting Study, 2012
Electrical circuitry, paper, wood. 7 x 5 x 4 in
Light Emitting Study, 2013
Electrical circuitry, paper, wood, embroidery. 7 x 5 x 5 in
Light Emitting Study, 2010
Electrical Circuitry, wood, paper, hand-stitched battery cozy. 6 x 5 x 4 in
Light Emitting Study, 2010
Electrical Circuitry, wood, paper, sewing pins incorporated into electrical circuit, hand stitched battery cozy . 5 x 5 x 4 in

BONNIE CRAWFORD


I make sculptures, drawings, photographs, and performances while contemplating how intimacy, risk, and harm inform habits of care. I am interested in how care-taking happens relative to capitalism's devaluation of reproductive labor.

I began working this way when I became a divorced mother of two and in turn became dependent on queer family structures for support. Born and raised in South Carolina, I have lived in Baltimore for over 20 years.

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