Hollis McCracken is originally from Baltimore, MD. Majoring in sculpture, Hollis graduated with her BFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California in 2011. She spent five years in Tucson, Arizona working as a studio technician at Pima Community College, and as an art instructor at a non-profit. Hollis received her MFA in Furniture Design/Wood from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2018.
My work investigates a lifelong passion for buildings, homes, and architecture. Buildings are more then shelters made of wood and screws; I personify them as if they were living breathing creatures. I’m particularly drawn to rundown and abandoned structures because I empathize with these sad looking buildings that were once majestic. This personal connection exists because I view them as versions of my former self, rough around the edges with a promising interior. Expanding beyond vacant and decaying buildings, I portray my experiences within fabricated architectural systems. I create sculptures with building materials and architectural salvage, communicating with their many layers of physical and socially constructed histories. My recent work has drawn from my memories and feelings surrounding my brother’s death and subsequent drug addiction, focusing on the emotions of abandonment, isolation, absence, and loneliness.