Casey Grengs | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Casey Grengs

Image
Painting by Casey Grengs.

Student
’22

Degree
Areas of Study
Drawing and Painting
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota

CLASS OF 1978 MERIT SCHOLARSHIP

Describe the work you submitted for merits.

Some of the pieces I submitted experiment with the awareness of everyday life becoming exponentially encompassed by the digital realm.

The other pieces I submitted were identity-focused.

Why did you decide to come to MCAD?

Minneapolis is my home. I have been living here my entire life and I'm privileged to not have to leave my hometown to attend such an amazing art school.

What are your plans for your senior year? And beyond?

Continue to experiment with painting on technology as a material and subject matter, as well as continue to research and explore the world of Posthumanism.

What inspires you?

I got to experience my Teaching Artist Practicum this spring semester. Both the student artists and teaching artists I worked with immensely inspired me with their contagious creative energy.

Anything you're obsessed with at the moment?

Material wise: gesso. I've been gessoing nearly anything and everything when I get bored in my studio. A lot of my paintings start with ten or more layers of gesso on whatever surface I happen to be working on.

Lately, I have also been deep into reading magical realism, speculative fiction, and poetry. Reading and writing have helped me learn how to better understand my process in creating my own visual artwork, as well as teach others how to create work they envision. Some authors that I have really enjoyed reading from this past year are Octavia E. Butler, Natalie Diaz, Su Hwang, Donna Harraway, Francesca Ferrando, Timothy Morton and Rikki Ducornet.

Painting of figure surrounded by baby faces by Casey Grengs.

PATRICIA KENNEDY CRUMP MERIT SCHOLARSHIP

Describe the work you submitted for merits.

I submitted a combination of technical driven drawings and paintings such as self-portraits. I also submitted paintings that contain material exploration with non-traditional painting materials including duct tape, metal gears, scorched lumber, and substrates such as a bedsheet. Themes that were included in a couple of my paintings deal with my budding exploration in post-humanism, industrial landscapes, and the visceral experiences of living in a human body.

What's next for your practice? Anything you're really excited to make?

I am currently excited about exploring and researching more about post-humanism.

Why did you decide to come to MCAD?

Minneapolis is my home. I have been living here my entire life and I'm privileged to not have to leave my hometown to attend such an amazing art school.

What's the best thing you've got from MCAD's free shelf?

A hospital canister of hand sanitizer the semester before COVID-19 quarantine.

Anything you're obsessed with at the moment?

Bjork!

What inspires you?

Bjork music videos, springtime skylines, urban scaffolding, city trains, powerful femininity, community building, acts of kindness, my loving friends, family, and partner, the friendly customers and coworkers at the grocery store I work at, professors and classmates, binge reading multiple books at 4:00 a.m., walking/running until my leg muscles beckon to collapse.