CASSANDRIA BLACKMORE
CV
B. 1968
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2022
Seattle Art Fair, Habatat Galleries, Detroit, MI
Art Miami, Miami, FL
CUBE, New York, NY
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Houston, TX
2021
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Dallas, TX
CUBE, Belgium, Brussels
2020
Habatat Invitational, MI
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Houston, TX
Art Palm Beach, Habatat Galleries, FL
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Dallas, TX
Ken Saunders Gallery, IL
2019
Scottsdale Museum of Modern Art, AZ
Fitchburg Art Museum, MA
Ken Saunders Gallery, IL
Forre, Aspen, CO
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Houston, TX
Heather Gaudio Fine Art, CT
Art Palm Beach, FL
Laura Rathe Fine Art, Dallas, TX
SOFA Chicago, IL
Cache Cache, Aspen, CO
Habatat Invitational, Detroit, MI
2018
Art Miami, Miami, FL
Imagine Museum, St Petersburg FL
Ken Saunders Fine Art, Chicago, IL
Lara Rathe Fine Art, Breakthrough, Dallas TX
SOFA Chicago, IL
2017
Laura Rathe Fine Art, "East Meets West", Houston, TX
Habatat Invitational, Detroit, MI
Cube, Brussels, Belgium
Forre Fine Art, Aspen, CO
Art Miami, Heather Gaudio Fine Art, CT
2016
Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL
Heather Gaudio Fine Art, CT
Habatat Galleries, MI
Art Palm Springs, Duane Reed Gallery, CA
2015
Forre & Co Fine Art, Aspen, CO
SCOPE, Duane Reed Gallery, Miami, FL
Chandra Cerito Gallery, Shattered, Oakland, CA
Heather Gaudio Fine Art, CT
Art Southampton, Habatat, NY
2014
The Crocker Art Museum, California Painters, CA
Habatat Inertnational Invitational, MI
Art Aspen, Duane Reed Gallery, CO
ArtHamptons, Habatatat Galleries, NY
The Dayton Art Museum, Chihuly, Labino and Beyond, OH
Art Miami, Duane Reed Gallery, FL
Art Palm Springs, Duane Reed Gallery, CA
Heather Guadio, New Canaan, CT
SOFA Chicago, Hawk Galleries, IL
2013
Art Miam, Miami, FL
Art Palm Beach, FL
Habatat Invitational, MI
Heather Guadio Fine Art, New Canaan, CT
Blue Rain Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
SOFA Chicago, IL
2012
Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach FL
Duane Reed Gallery, St Louis, MO
SOFA Chicago, Chicago, IL
Hawk Galleries, Solo Show, Columbus, OH
2011
SOFA, New York, NY
Winston Wachter, Seattle, WA
G.A.S., Seattle, WA
Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL
SOFA, Chicago, IL
2010
Hawk Galleries, Columbus, OH
SOFA New York, NY
Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL
Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2009
Art Miami, Miami, FL
Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA
SOFA New York, NY
Duane Reed, Solo Show, St. Louis, MO
Friesen Gallery, Solo Show, Sun Valley, ID
Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL
SOFA, Chicago, IL
Duane Reed Gallery, Solo Show, St. Louis, MO
2008
Lowe Gallery, Solo, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, CA
Friesen Gallery, Seattle, WA
Hawk Galleries, Les Dames du Verre, Columbus, OH
SOFA New York, NY
Palm Beach3, Palm Beach, FL
Cervini Haas Gallery, Solo, Scottsdale, AZ
Winston Wachter, Seattle, WA
SOFA Chicago, IL
2007
Winston Wachter, Seattle, WA
Habatat Galleries, Tyson’s Corner, VA
SOFA New York, NY
Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL
Winston Wachter Gallery, Seattle, WA
SOFA Chicago, IL
R. Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2006
Cervini Haas Gallery, Solo Show, Scottsdale, AZ
Habatat Galleries, Boca Raton, FL
Duane Reed Gallery, New York, NY
Edmonds Art Museum, Solo Show, Edmonds, WA
Art Miami, Miami, FL
SOFA , New York, NY
SCOPE Art, The Hamptons, NY
Duane Reed Gallery, Solo Show, St. Louis, MO
SOFA Exhibition, Chicago, IL
Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL
2005
SOFA Exhibition, Chicago, IL
Art L.A., Los Angeles, CA
Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL
Art Miami, Miami, FL
2004
Duane Reed Gallery, New York, NY
William Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
SOFA, Chicago, Chicago, IL
Duane Reed Gallery, Group Show, Miami, FL
Cassandria Blackmore was born in California and spent part of her childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area with her English father and her American mother. She grew up on a self sustaining farm in Oregon and learned at a very early age that everything had a process. Creativity was integral to existing. This has informed her process oriented work.
_____________________________________________________________________
Blackmore is acclaimed for her unconventional approach to reverse painting. She completed her thesis at Pacific Northwest College of Art exploring Eastern and Western perspectives on art. Her work is collected internationally and exhibited in galleries and museums across the country. Her work is in The Crocker Art Museum, The Imagine Museum, The Portland Art Museum and more. She is a recipient of the prestigious Hauberg Fellowship for painting. She was honored as the Renwick Smithsonian artist of the month. Cassandria Blackmore is on the Board of Pilchuck.
Blackmore's recent commissions include a large scale permanent installation for the lobby of the new Waldorf Astoria. Her work is in the public collections of The Crocker Art Museum, The Fitchburg Museum, The Bronfman Collection, Imagine Museum, Portland Art Museum, Neiman Marcus Art Permanent Collection, Lexus Corp., University of Washington, MGM Center, Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse, Pacific Central Bank, The Peninsula Collection, City of Seattle, Washington State Arts Commission, The Yellowstone Private Collection, The Bellagio Collection, Aria Collection, Deloitte Consulting and more.
Cassandria lives and works in Santa Barbara in a historic building that has been lovingly restored. The building was built by artists in 1907 as an art studio. It was the former studio of Diego Rivera, Francis Rich, Albert Herter, Thomas Moran and more.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Crocker Art Museum, California Contemporary Painters
The Fitchburg Museum
Portland Art Museum
Imagine Museum
Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Racine Art Museum
The Bronfman Collection
Walid Juffali Collection
Kevin Costner Collection
Chad & Ginni Dreier Collection
Washington State Arts Commission 1% For The Arts
MGM Center Collection, Aria, Las Vegas
Waldorf Astoria Major Permanent Installation
Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne
City of Seattle, Permanent Collection
Tom Kyte Collection
University of Washington, Permanent Installation
Lexus Corp
Deloitte Consulting Collection
Pacific Central Bank
Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse UW
Starwood Collection, Presidential Suite, Abu Dhabi
St Elizabeth Collection
Presidential Suite Ankara JW, Turkey
Cosmopolitan, Public Collection, Las Vegas, NV
Opryland Collection, Nashville, TN
Neiman Marcus Fine Art Collection
Ritz Carlton
Carol Milgard Center
Seattle University
Washington Square Towers
Evergreen Hospital Permanent Collection
The Peninsula Hotel Collection
Overlake Collection
PUBLICATIONS
Santa Barbara Magazine, 2020
Surface Magazine, 2016
Santa Barbara Magazine, Home is Where The Art Is, 2016
LUXE Magazine, Feature Cover, Contemporary Art and Architecture, 2014
Carmel Magazine, Feature, “Getting a Break in The Art World”, 2013
Eco Salon, "10 California Artists Ready to ChangeThe Way You See The World",2012
San Francisco Chronicle, "Abstract Painter Who Shatters Her Images", June 13, San Francisco, CA, 2011
LUXE Design Dialogue, October 2011
California Homes + Design, July/August 2011
California Homes Magazine, July 2011
San Jose Mercury News, June 2011
LUXE Magazine, Artist Profile, September, Northwest Edition, 2010
Seattle Homes, September, 2010
The New Fillmore, June, San Francisco, CA, 2010
San Francisco Magazine, Best of The Bay, July, San Francisco, CA, 2010
Haute Living SF, May 27th, San Francisco, CA, 2010
Reside, June 5, San Francisco, CA, 2010
San Francisco Modern Luxury, June, San Francisco, CA, 2010
M Magazine, Hotel d’Art, December, Orlando, FL, 2009
Idaho Arts Quarterly, "Interest and Impact”, Boise, ID, 2009
The Columbus, Show of The Year, Les Dames du Verre, Columbus, OH, 2009
Boise Weekly, Phoenix Rising Cassandria Blackmore, Boise, ID, 2009
Seattle Homes, September issue, Seattle, WA, 2009
The Columbus Dispatch, March 30, Columbus, OH, 2008
Florida Architecture, spring issue, FL, 2006
Seattle Weekly, Seattle, WA
AWARDS
SOFA Selects
John Hauberg Fellowship, Pilchuck, Stanwood, WA
Renwick Smithsonian, featured Artist of month, Washington D.C.
EDUCATION
1992 BFA With a thesis exploring Eastern and Western Perspectives
Pacific Northwest College of Art | museum school, Portland, OR
Walking on broken glass. Ode to Annie Lenox. -Cassandria Blackmore
"It's the essence of breaking down an image and restoring it to another version of itself that intrigues me".
STATEMENT:
Glass is a smooth, seductive and mysterious substance yet at the same time, a very ordinary substance. It can be as common as a wine glass or it can be a treasured work of art. It's part of our world culture. Glassmaking has been estimated to have been around for over 5,000 years. The same piece of glass can appear to be invisible at one moment and opaque another through its display of reflection. With my work you may, at times, see the painting through the transparent surface while later you might see the reflection of the environment around it thus obscuring the artist's physical mark. Glass is a chameleon of sorts, an illusionist.
There is a water-like quality to glass even though it is impervious to water. The way a brush glides across the smooth surface of the medium is appealing to me. I have always been attracted to the tactile qualities of mosaic, yet drawn to the fluidity of painting. I often wondered if I must choose between the two. I began painting on glass during a period in which I couldn't afford the expensive Italian glass I had become accustomed to. I was going through a tough time. I had moved to Seattle in the middle of a dark, gloomy winter. I was dealing with personal heartache and to top it off, I had no money for art supplies. I recall listening to Etta James while drinking a glass of wine in my Seattle loft when a family photograph caught my eye. It was a portrait of me with my bohemian parents in Berkeley, CA in the late '60s. I really missed them. As I studied the photograph, I noticed the glass in the frame. That was a defining moment. The idea suddenly came to me. What if I remove the glass, paint a self-portrait, shatter it and reassemble it like a puzzle? I was taking what shielded a physical memory from my past and turning it into my present. It was broken and put back together - an allegory for my life at the time. It was the perfect marriage of painting, image making, tactile qualities, reflection and resurrection. The fusion of painting and surface became my medium.
Reverse Painting: As I create an image, the viewer observes the most intimate of brush strokes. The true original intent of the artist is revealed and can not be covered by additional marks or revisions. Imagine a sheet of glass in between you and me. The first stroke of paint that I put down is the first stroke that you as the viewer sees. It is almost as if the viewer is on the inside of the painting. Whereas if I were painting on canvas my very last stroke would be the first stroke the viewer would see.
My technique is a very permanent and literal way of working. I can't go back and place another stroke on top of the painting with the intention of changing it. Each stroke must be executed
methodically. Reverse painting on glass is like painting on the invisible. Its reverse nature can be complicated, but it's a perfect fit for a dyslexic artist such as myself.
I choose color through mood or sometimes visuals I have observed. It could be something as simple as a pair of hot pink shoes, or the color of a mushroom growing out of a moss-covered nurse log in the forest. I find inspiration for color palettes all around me. I also find that color in itself can produce emotion. It's interesting to think about colors as emotions and what happens when you combine them within a painting. At times they are charged with tension, yet other times they seem to pacify each other.
It's the essence of breaking down an image and restoring it to another version of itself that intrigues me.
Copyright Cassandria Blackmore 2023