Artist Statement
My work mainly serves as a reflection and critique of societal norms. I explore narratives that evoke emotional connections and reference aspects of existence. Through symbolism and allegory, I refer to what lies beneath the surface, using varying imagery. I create imaginative realms that defy logic but are directly influenced by my experiences. I also investigate different themes that affect people from all walks of life, concerning inequality and systemic oppression which include exclusion and exploitation, all of which forms the roots of a spiritual rebirth.
Being split between two cultures and ways of thinking has led me to create hybrid forms and concepts, fusing both science and spirituality. I reference biblical imagery to create fantasy dreamscapes, visually engaging storylines to intrigue the viewer. I utilize scientific concepts that coincide with creating other worldly realms. I also paint the invisible internal and external forces that wage against the human psyche. I show this from the perspective of an unwanted female presence in a patriarchal society, revealing spaces designated to be without women. My intent is to orchestrate unpleasant experiences and create dialog through the manifestation of beautiful imagery.
Biography
"Crystal Marshall is a contemporary fine artist painter who lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, her paintings pay homage to her life's experiences rooted in cultural disparities in the modern-day African diaspora. Her distinctive personal style emanates isolation, self reflection and expresses the spirit and atmosphere of the black consciousness in efforts to reconcile its relationship with true identity and image. Afro futurism, tech-skepticism and spiritual ascension are the main themes explored in her work. The artist also employs figurative and narrative scenes in a Neo-surrealistic manner to tap into the dreamlike imaginative realms.
She earned a Bachelor of General Fine arts degree from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland and also studied fine arts at Edna Manley College of Art in Kingston, Jamaica. She received a full scholarship for an exchange program at Pont Aven School of Contemporary art in France where she showcased her work in a group exhibit. Recently she’s completed her MFA in painting at SCAD University.
Crystal's artwork has been shown in exhibitions such as "Intersectionality Theory" at the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, group exhibit. She has been featured in two issues of New American Paintings South edition. In addition, Crystal has showcased her works with Czong Institute for Contemporary Art Museum in South Korea, she debut a solo show at the Chrysler Museum of Art Perry Glass Studio in Norfolk Virginia, Spartanburg Art Museum in South Carolina and Startart Fair 2021 at the renowned Saatchi Gallery in the United Kingdom."
Crystal Marshall
b. 1983, Long-Island, New York
Lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia
EDUCATION:
Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah Georgia, 2024 M.F.A Painting
Zayed University, United Arab Emirates, Dubai 2008
Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore Maryland 2006 -2008 B.F.A. General Fine Arts
Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art, Pont Aven, France 2006
Edna Manley College of Art, Kingston, Jamaica 2003- 2005
RESIDENCIES:
2025 Vermont Studio Center Residency, Johnson, Vermont (forthcoming)
2023 Vermont Studio Center, Creative Connections - Art and Writing as Lifestyle, Johnson, Vermont
Ox-Bow Art Virtual Residency, Conversations in Practice with Angelik Vicarrondo-Laboy, Saugatuck, MI
2022 Cynosure in Psychogeography | Arts Letters & Numbers artist Residency
Ox-Bow Art Virtual Residency, Conversations in Practice with Alison Glenn, Saugatuck, MI
2021 World of Co Online Artist Residency, Sofia Bulgaria
The St. Petersburg Art Residency (SPAR)Virtual studio, St Petersburg, Russia
2020 The St. Petersburg Art Residency (SPAR)Virtual studio, St Petersburg, Russia
ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS:
2025 Post Pandemia; A Transformation, The Supermarket, Atlanta, Georgia
2024 SCAD Senior Thesis Exhibition, Trois Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
2023 Clio Art Fair NYC 2023, Clio Art Fair, New York, New York
Vestibule 102, Chrysler Museum of Art Glass Studio, Norfolk, Virginia
2022 CICA Contemporary Art Solo Series, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
2021 STARTnet Art Fair Solo Booth, Saatchi Gallery, London, United Kingdom
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2025 Address Earth -Artist Books, Travelling Exhibition, Inspiration Art Group International, New York (curated by Bibiana Huang Matheis, forthcoming)
Awakening the Senses, RAM Wustum Museum, Racine, Wisconsin (forthcoming)
Spring Gala Art Auction, Plains Art Museum, Fargo, North Dakota
It/’s Only (super) Natural, University of Mississippi Gallery 130, University, Mississippi
Fragments: Reflection on Memory, Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center, Solomon, Maryland
2024 Satellite Art Fair Miami 2024, Satellite Art Show, Miami Beach, Florida
2024 Mini Masterpieces Auction, Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, Illinoi
CoCA Members’ Show/Seattle Art Fair 2024, CoCA Seattle, Seattle, Washington
The Now, Fever Dreams, Pen + Brush NYC Gallery, New York, New York
The Art of Water VIII, James May Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Fifth Southeast Regional Exhibition, LaGrange Art Museum, LaGrange, Georgia
Artistic Resurgence, Celebrating Creativity, Oceanside Museum of Art Alliance/Ashton Gallery, San Diego, California
Annual Juried Exhibition 2023, International Museum of Art & Science, McAllen, Texas
2023 2023 Address Earth, Hudson Valley Museum of Art, Peekskill, New York (curated by Bibiana Huang Matheis)
Painting People, Gutstein Gallery, Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, Georgia
The Members Show 2023, Pensacola Museum of Art, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida
First Note, Project Gallery V, New York, New York (Curated by Faust Luo)
Windows to the Inside, virtual exhibit, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
Alexander Ink, Alexander Hall, Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, Georgia
Lush, Artist Alliance, Artsy.net, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Above + Below, Artist Alliance, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Nyctophobia, The Fear of Darkness, FC Collective, Artsy.net, Atlanta Georgia
2022 Contemporary Landscape 2022, CICA Contemporary Art Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
The Crown We Never Take off, FC Collective, Miami, Florida (Curated by Donnamarie Baptiste)
Spectrum Miami 2022/ Red Dot Art Fair, Miami, Florida
Mother Nature, Artist Alliance, Santa Fe, New Mexico
The Patriot, O’flaherty’s NYC, New York, New York
Metro Montage XXII, Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta GA
Supernatural, Gutstein Gallery, Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, Georgia
Undercurrent, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut (Curated by Kristina Newman-Scott )
The Members Show 2022, Pensacola Museum of Art, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida
Black Anatomy, Spartanburg Museum, Spartanburg, North Carolina
The Body Language 2022, ItsLiquid, Venice, Italy
Being Human, Grandview Avenue Gallery at AAC, Atlanta, Georgia (Juried by Kevin
Chambers)
2021 Form 2021, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
Tokyo International Art Fair, Belle Salle Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan
Small Works Show, Grandview Avenue Gallery at AAC, Atlanta, Georgia
“Us All”, Brookfield Craft Center Lynn Tendler Bignell Gallery, Brookfield Conneticut
Annual Postcard Pin-up Show, MINT Gallery, Atlanta GA
Barcelona Art Expo,Valid World Hall, Artbox.Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
Art in the Time of Corona, Vol.2 , Dab Art Gallery at Artsy.net, Los Angeles, Ventura
Virtual Exhibit, Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem, New York (Curated by Bibiana Huang Matheis)
The Era of Change, Visionary Projects, New York, New York
Dreaming of Equ>lity, Reynolds Gallery, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California
Artbox.project World 1.0, Artbox.Gallery, Switzerland, Zurich
2020 Covid.19 The Art of Isolation/Survey 3, Curator’s Voice Art Projects, Miami, Florida (Juried by Dr. Milagros Bello, Lieska Husband, Maura Morandi)
it’s a small world: A Virtual Community Art Exhibition, The Walt Disney Family Museum, Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall, San Francisco, California (Juried Exhibition)
Crisis Mode Virtual Exhibit, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, California (Juried by Lucia Olubunmi Momoh)
Art2Life International Juried Virtual Exhibition (Juried by Julie Nester)
The FL3TCH3R Exhibit: Socially & Politically Engaged Art, Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee (Curated by Carlton Wilkinson)
Virtual Exhibit, Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem, New York (Curated by Bibiana Huang Matheis)
Reality or Abstraction, Grandview Avenue Gallery at AAC, Atlanta, Georgia (Juried by Erin Bailey)
Crush Walls Billboard Exhibition, Save Art Space at Dateline Gallery, Denver, Colorado (Curated by Thomas “Detour” Evans & Lorenzo Scott)
International Contemporary Art Fair- Art 3f, Vangogh Art Gallery, Luxembourg-Kirchberg
Paper Girl BK , Brooklyn Art Project exhibition, Brooklyn, NY
Swiss Art Expo, SBB Event Hall, Artbox.Gallery, Switzerland, Zurich
Back to the Drawing Board, Grandview Avenue Gallery at AAC, Atlanta, Georgia
(Juried by Chin Cheng Hung)
2019 Miami Art Basel, Artbox.Gallery at Eduardo Lira Art Gallery, Miami, Florida
Swiss Art Expo, SBB Event Hall, Artbox.Gallery, Switzerland, Zurich
2016 Intersectionality Theory, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami, Florida
2009 Transformers II- More Than Meets The Eye, Gateway Gallery MICA, Baltimore, Maryland
2008 Honorable Verna L. Jones Black Student Union Exhibit, Baltimore, Maryland
2007 Honorable Verna L. Jones Black Student Union Exhibit, Baltimore, Maryland
2006 Pont Aven Student Exhibit, Pont Aven, France
AWARDS:
2025 Vermont Studio Center Partial Fellowship
National Juried Exhibition: It\'s Only (super)Natural, Third place award, University of Mississippi
Jackson Fine Arts Prize, Extended longlist, Farleigh Place, London
2024 SCAD Academic Honors, Achievement Honors & eLearning Scholarship, Atlanta GA
2023 Ox-Bow, Virtual Residency, full scholarship, Saugatuck, MI
SCAD Academic Honors, Achievement Honors & eLearning Scholarship, Atlanta GA
2022 Ox-Bow, Virtual Residency, full scholarship, Saugatuck, MI
SCAD Academic Honors, Achievement Honors & eLearning Scholarship, Atlanta GA
2021 The Denis Diderot [A-i-R] Grant, Chateau d’ Orquevaux, France
2020 The FL3TCH3R Exhibit, Award of Merit, Johnson City, Tennessee
Reality or Abstraction, 1st Place Award, Grandview Gallery at AAC, Atlanta GA
Back to The Drawing Board, Honorable Mention, Grandview Gallery at AAC, Atlanta GA
2006 Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art, full scholarship
CHARITY AUCTIONS:
2023 Art Auction & 20th Anniversary Party, Gallery Aferro, Newark, New Jersey
2021 ACLU of Texas & Planned Parenthood, Greenhouse Auction, Austin, Texas
Out of Order 2021, Online Auction, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, Maryland
WRITING
2025 Harvard Art Museums Handbook, June 2025 (forthcoming)
BIBLIOGRAPHY/ PUBLICATIONS:
2025 New American Paintings, The NAP Legacy Addendum, January
Flaunt Magazine, Crystal Marshall, Blackbody Summit, An Afrofuturistic Quest
Whitehot Magazine, Crystal Marshall's "Post Pandemia; A Transformation" will debut at
The Supermarket a new multi-disciplinary hub and alternative space in Atlanta, Georgia, March
2024 1883Magazine, Crystal Marshall an Afrofuturist Black Female Redefining “Blackness”, December
PhotoVogue 2024, #38 NY Profile - Parker Daley Garcia, August
Artforum Artguide, Pen and BrushThe Now: Fever Dreams, May
Medium, Crystal Marshall’s Afro-Caribbean Artistry Radiates with Cultural Fusion, December
Artdaily, Crystal Marshall’s Blackbody: A Journey into the Mind through Dreamscapes, April
2023 Aesthetica Magazine, Issue 114, August/September, York, United Kingdom
New American Paintings, No. 166, South Issue, p. 102-107, Boston, MA
Tutor, Zach, Supersonic New Contemporary Art, Featured Artist, February
2022 The Root, What’s Black At Art Basel? December
The Best of Black Art and Activation During Art Miami Basel, December
ARTE.it, The Body Language 2022, Rome Italy
Art in the Time of Corona, Vol 2, Los Angeles, California
New American Paintings, No. 160, South Issue, p. 108 -111, Boston, MA
World of Interiors, London, United Kingdom, p. 179, November Issue
CICA Art Now 2022, Gimpo Korea, p. 98-101 September
Chapman Cultural Center, Spartanburg, South Carolina
VAC New Visionary Magazine, Featured artist, Issue 1,New York, New York, p. 52 January
2021 Curatorial Volume.3, Leaders in Contemporary Art, Capsules Books, Melbourne, Australia, July 2021
STARTnet Art Fair exhibition catalogue 2021
The Flux Review Magazine, Featured artist, London , UK
Joshi, Gita, The Curators Salon Magazine, Art Seen Issue 1, London, UK, p.133 May
Visionary Collective, Artist Interview, New York, New York
Dreaming of Equ>ity Artist Panel, University of the Pacific, Stockton California
2020 St. Petersburg Art Residency, VirtualSPAR zine/catalogue
The FL3TCH3R Exhibit, exhibition catalogue
Save Art Space for Crushwalls, September
Matheis, Frank, In Other Words, Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden, North Salem, New York, Vol 1, No. 6, October
Booooooom Magazine, Artist Spotlight, August
ARTIST TALK/LECTURE
2022 “Nyctophobia”, The Fear of Darkness, FC Collective, Atlanta, Georgia
"Undercurrent”, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, Connecticut
”In Our Time”, Spartanburg Museum of Art & Spartanburg Library lecture series, Spartanburg, South Carolina
2021 Middle Temple Hall, Parliament Chambers, Guest Artist Speaker, London, UK
Dreaming of Equ>ity Artist Panel, University of the Pacific, Stockton California
“Us All”, Brookfield Craft Center Lynn Tendler Bignell Gallery, Brookfield Conneticut
COLLECTIONS
Savannah College of Art and Design
