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monique crabb

Fiber, Visual / Media

My diverse practice spans textiles, installation, video, and photography, with a focus on traditional craft processes. Reshaping secondhand fabric and using colors extracted from organic materials I have foraged or grown, allows me the opportunity to materialize deep contemplations of the inward experience into various forms that reference women’s work, throwaway culture, mental health, and our growing climate crisis.

About the Artist

Monique Crabb (b. 1982), a Mexican-American artist whose work represents an interplay of narrative, identity, and symbolism that speaks to the constraints of societal structures and of the human body.  Crabb received her BFA in Photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art and MFA at the University of Maryland Baltimore County in Intermedia + Digital Arts. For nearly a decade she contributed to the Baltimore City arts community as co-director of Current Space, an artist-run gallery, studios, and performance space.

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Featured Work

Photos

Sub Rosa: La Casa de Beatriz Cabrera is a multimedia room installation representing a conversation taking place between a mom and daughter exposing family lineage, the role of caretaker, and motherhood.
Pixelated Rose Garden, 2021-2022 (center) Quilt made of secondhand synthetic and plant-dyed fabric, cotton thread and batting
Plant-dyed textile stretched in a float frame with mahogany wood and a distressed gold leaf face. Inspired by the Bandy Bandy snake's defense mechanism of looping its body to detract predators.
My dad, who was born during the Great Depression, often said this to me growing up--so much so that it is ingrained in my psyche and I think of it often and affects the way I view food and reflection on our growing issues with obesity and diabetes. The installation and formation allows for the viewer to play with the phrasing along with the historical connotations of sugar, cotton, and the use of cloth napkins.
A personal story quilt made with all plant dyed second hand fabric about my brother who suffered from Bipolar Schizoaffective Disorder for over twenty years. I worked on this piece for over a year before he passed away. It’s a story of a person whose seasons in life revolved around jails, hospitals, mental institutions, and half way homes. The evolution of this piece is documented through #johnpaulcabreracrabb on instagram with written stories that correlate to selected symbols that honor my brother’s life.
Chthonic Duty speaks to the subterranean, deep-rooted domestic duty of women that society continually shapes and expects .