Torin Craig’s Installation comes to the Akin Vitrine Gallery
This fall, Torin Craig will be exhibiting new work at the Akin Vitrine Gallery. Visible from the street, the work invites passersby to experience the work 24/7. On view now until the end of October at 1747 St. Clair Ave. W., stop by and take a look!
Torin Craig is an artist and musician working in Toronto. The installation features the painting "electric love monument overlooks the drop", as well as the original sketch which formed the cover art for the band Pretty's latest album, "Where You'll Be When the World is Gone".
We caught up with Torin to learn more about the exhibition, his inspirations and process.
“This exhibition is showing two pretty different types of work, both which share the common themes of play, experimentation, and automatism. The first is an oil painting on wood panel, the second is a pen and paper sketch. Both were made through a process of spontaneous composition, where I would just begin painting/drawing and see what happened/how the piece developed. In the case of the painting, it was process of creating a first layer of shapes and colour, then working it up in layers, discovering the final image based on what the first layer suggested to me. The drawing was very much the same process, but more immediate, where one mark/image would imply another and I just allowed it to progress based on what felt right. This drawing was edited and used as the cover artwork for my band's latest album (which you can listen to online, or preorder a vinyl of!) We also have a release show happening October 9th at Sound Garage.”
Akin: What are you curious about right now?
Torin Craig: “Mostly I'm thinking about what sort of art I want to be making going forward. I've been so busy with work and music that I haven't had much time to make visual art, so I'm curious to see what sort of things I'll be making when I get back into a regular practice. Much of my work lately has been commission based with strict parameters, or was part of my MFA work (which was based on sound and installation), so I'd really just like to get to know myself as a visual artist again, free from my past visual tropes/motifs.”
Akin: Do you have studio routines or rituals? What gets you in a creative mood?
TC: “When I'm working on a piece I always like to begin the studio session by cleaning my palette for the day, and getting some sort of drink to sip on while I work (coffee, something stronger... really depends on the time of day and how I'm feeling). Otherwise, I pretty much just listen to music (sometimes podcasts) the whole time and let myself get lost in the work. The bulk of my studio time is spent completing projects, where the creative heavy lifting (composing the image, deciding what to paint) has already been done, so it's really just like any other job where you clock in and do the work. The more creative side where I come up with what I'd like to paint, or do some improvisation on the panel, is much more complicated. That part is the hardest to start, as I'm usually either waiting for inspiration to strike or finding ways to make it come. This is the phase where time spent doesn't matter, if I'm in the right mood I can get something done in an hour that would take a week or two in the wrong headspace. The main thing I find, whether it's coming up with a painting or writing a song, is that I need mental space and time to just mess around. It can take an hour of doing not much of anything before the properly creative mood kicks in.”
Akin: What inspires you? Why?
TC: “This really changes day to day, project to project. It also separates into form and content. I'll see or hear something that connects directly to me in the way that it's made (visual rendering style, musical production choices) and I'll want to learn as much as I can about it in the hope of expanding my own technical approaches. When it comes to what those techniques are used to express, it really just stems from whatever I'm into at the time and what's going on around me. My music as of late has revolved around some pretty apocalyptic themes... go figure. Visually though, I'm currently in a search for inspiration and am looking forward to seeing what form that catalyst will take.”
Find more of Torin’s work here: