Chrystal Robinson-Shofroth
About the Artist
Chrystal has been creating artwork most of her life. She is a mother of two girls, Iris and Violetta Shofroth. She enjoys teaching her children about the art world and taking them to art exhibits, they have grown up in the local art scene. She has been obsessed with art from a very early age. Her first exhibit was at the Butler Museum of Art Trumbull branch at the age of eleven and she has exhibited her work publicly ever since. Her work can most often be seen at Canton First Fridays in the Canton Ohio Arts District. Chrystal attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh at the age of 17 to study Special Effects and Industrial Design. In 2006 she followed love back to her home state of Ohio and shortly after began exhibiting her work in Canton. Chrystal's Art has also been on display in cities such as Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Columbus, NYC and Washington DC.
Almost two years ago Chrystal survived an Ischemic Stroke and they found a birth defect in her heart to add to her many diseases, including crohns disease, arthritis and fibromyalgia. She never lets her chronic health conditions hold her back in life and continues to exhibit and create new work. Also a health activist, she curated an event to benefit the CCFA to raise awareness of crohns disease raising over $500 for Camp Oasis, a camp for children with crohns. In 2015, 2016 and again in 2017 Chrystal was awarded the Ohio Arts Council Artists with Disabilities Access Grant. This year Chrystal won the "Inspiration and encouragement award" in Minneapolis at The International Juried exhibit for artists with disabilities, The Art of Possibilities. Chrystal has recently began curating several group exhibits with Jupiter Studios including Inspired Women, an exhibit designed to empower women thru the Arts. Recently Chrystal was appointed the Art Director of Jupiter Studios in Alliance, Ohio. Her long-term goal is to open a nonprofit arts organization that helps women and disabled artists to market and exhibit their artwork. She has dedicated her life to the arts and her children. Chrystal believes that art really can change the world.
(http://mystikchrystal.wixsite.com/lakesidearts)
artist statement
Ascend: they thought they could bury us they did not know we are seeds, (36"x48") Mixed media on canvas, 2016:
Here is a woman shaped tree encircling the earth, representing the earth as our mother and humanity as her seeds of life. Behind her is the dripping of emotion falling from the tree like the rains of life. The colors are vibrant against the dark background.
Doorway into my soul, (24"x32") Oil on canvas, 2017:
Here you see myself, a woman in bright red, with her soul and aura surrounding herself and her heart with the doorway with an eye within it (representing a PFO heart condition, that the painter has and caused her stroke in 2014). You see the darkness coming in and surrounding her as you see when you suffer from a stroke, the tunnel vision.
I am Chrystal and I have loved to create art for as long as I can remember. I was born an artist in this life and many others. Art was my escape throughout my troubled childhood. As an adult survivor of child abuse it was my therapy and now as a disabled woman art is my voice. Art is my passion to keep living, surviving a stroke over two years ago made me evaluate my purpose in life and cherish every moment. I create art with my daughters, Iris and Violet, and often donate it to local schools and organizations that benefit children. I dedicated my life to the arts, even as a child I always knew I was meant to be an artist. I want my art to speak to people on a deeper level than words. I want to speak to their souls, their emotions, right into their DNA through beautiful passionate colors filled with symbolism.
My Avant Garde artwork is known to use unique techniques and brushstrokes, veering away from traditional art styles and creating my own unique vision of the world. I enjoy researching each image thoroughly before I paint. I enjoy including in my paintings the Indigenous symbolism of animals, insects and even birth/death rituals and beliefs. My images are often erotic, even those without the nudes I have become known for locally. I believe nothing exposes the soul quite like when your nude, leaving your emotions vulnerable to the world. My work is known to be uncensored and speak on subjects such as Women’s rights, Politics, Indigenous cultures, Equality, Gay rights, Preservation of mother Earth, Endangered Species and the Metaphysical. I enjoy using my art as a voice to advocate for the rights of disabled artists and our inclusion in exhibits. You can see my work in group exhibits across the country for disabled artists, including the Courage Kenny International Exhibit of disabled artists at Alina Health in Minneapolis every year. I use my voice to advocate for the arts in my community and throughout the country. One of the artists who inspired me was Freida Kahlo, a disabled Mexican artist. Freida once said “I was a child who went about in a world of colors... My friends, my companions, became women slowly; I became old in instants,” which is how I always felt, like an old soul.
I enjoy creating artwork that reflects the world around me. I have been exhibiting my artwork since I was eleven years old and my work is in collections across the U.S. I am an obsessive artist filled with passion and ambition. I hope to one day open a non profit arts organization that helps disabled artist and women exhibit and promote their work. I have lived a life that has seen more tragedy then most do their entire lives and I am only 31. My hard life has given me inspiration to use my art to change this world for my children. My life is now filled with passion and love and I hope to fill the world with art in a passionate embrace, that inspires the world to come together as one.