In this debut episode of the Subvolo podcast, Windhover Managing Editor Nicole Shearon sat down with NC State’s CJ Murphy to discuss his artistic process and the desire to expand upon black narratives using the surreal. In particular, we explored the intersection between poetry and the visual arts as well as the way in which Murphy’s physical environments help to define and shape his artistic work.
Please make sure to follow CJ on his Instagram @CJMmurphy.Art and check out more of his original art at CJMurphy.org.
Full Transcript of Interview
Nicole Shearon 0:20
Hi, Christopher
CJ Murphy 0:22
How’s it going?
Nicole Shearon 0:22
Good. How’s it going with you?
CJ Murphy 0:25
Good. Pretty good. Sorry for the schedule mishap.
Nicole Shearon 0:27
No, you’re fine.
CJ Murphy 0:29
I’m glad we could finally get a date.
Nicole Shearon 0:31
Yeah, me too. I’m so excited. I was so swamped last week, so this week actually worked better.
CJ Murphy 0:38
Okay, good.
Nicole Shearon 0:40
So just tell me before we, you know, get into questions, how are you doing?
CJ Murphy 0:44
Sure. So far, so good. You know, the semester has been going great. I’ve been able to kind of weave in the art stuff a little bit better this semester, as opposed to last it was… I’ve gotten a lot better with my time management. So doing good. Doing good.
Nicole Shearon 0:59
That’s good. So if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your year? And also, what’s your major?
CJ Murphy 1:06
Yeah, I’m a senior and I am doing Interdisciplinary Studies.
Nicole Shearon 1:09
Nice. Okay, cool. I am also a senior. And I obviously, I am an English major because I work for Windhover. But recently, I applied to graduate schools for like an MFA.
CJ Murphy 1:22
Very cool, very cool. Where do you apply?
Nicole Shearon 1:24
Oh, my gosh, a bunch of places like Vanderbilt, Cornell, those are like the exclusive ones.
CJ Murphy 1:29
Right. I was going to say.
Nicole Shearon 1:31
Cornell, I already got rejected from that it was a big rejection, so womp womp. But it was unrealistic for me to think I was gonna get in.
CJ Murphy 1:41
Never, never say that. There’s always a chance.
Nicole Shearon 1:44
I mean, there’s always a chance I just had like a premonition I wasn’t going to get in. Um, but I applied to like a couple schools in Tennessee, like University of Tennessee, which I already got rejected from as well.
CJ Murphy 1:56
A lot of applications, though.
Nicole Shearon 1:59
Yeah. So I think I applied to 10 in total, which was not an easy thing for my bank account.
CJ Murphy 2:08
Application fees have just gotten so expensive now.
Nicole Shearon 2:10
They really have, like, I… there are some people who will apply to like, 17, like 20, upwards of 20. And I’m on this Facebook draft community. And yeah, like the amount of schools people will apply to is crazy. And then there’ll be people who like joined the draft, just to say, like, “oh, I got waitlisted, like Cornell” or whatever.
CJ Murphy 2:31
You are like “oh thats so cool.”
Nicole Shearon 2:32
I’m like, you’re contributing to a toxic environment!
CJ Murphy 2:35
Like you are making me feel horrible right now.
Nicole Shearon 2:37
For real. Yeah. But most of the schools that I’m applying to I haven’t heard back from so we’ll see about that. I really liked Maryland.
CJ Murphy 2:46
Well best of luck. Oh Maryland!
Nicole Shearon 2:48
Yeah, thank you. But anyway, this is not about me, this is about you. So let’s go ahead and transition to some of the questions. Well, let’s go in a little bit deeper. You said you were studying interdisciplinary studies. So could you expand upon that a little bit?
CJ Murphy 3:05
Sure, Sure. So I originally started here at State with textile engineering and I did that for about three years and then took a semester and a half off to do a co op.
Nicole Shearon 3:15
Oh, nice.
CJ Murphy 3:15
And I did that. And it was…it was fine. But I kind of came back and I was like, I cannot do this. I just can’t I cannot finish out with this because I will be miserable.
Nicole Shearon 3:25
Right.
CJ Murphy 3:26
So I didn’t want to switch to like an art and design major, because I’d effectively be starting over from zero. I don’t want to do that, so I learned about NC State self design program which is fantastic and it falls under this interdisciplinary studies major. And I have been able to kind of, you know, create this, Art History, Museum Studies, anthropology degree and I was able to work in the classes I already taken so I wasn’t, you know, doing an extra three years in college. But I like it a lot. I like a lot. I’ve gotten to study a little bit more of like the behind the scenes when it comes to museums and stuff. And that is it’s been really nice.
Nicole Shearon 4:06
Yeah, that’s awesome. Especially like, obviously, I didn’t know you had like a textile engineering background. But it’s awesome that you are able to define your own studies. I think that was like…when I came into college that was a struggle for me. It’s like, I didn’t even know how to define my studies. I felt like I had to fit into a box.
CJ Murphy 4:25
One of the majors
Nicole Shearon 4:26
Right, right. Also, NC State is very major centric. I don’t know about you, but it was like, when I applied to NC State as an undergraduate, you like you applied and then the next thing that came after that was your degree like, what’s your degree?
CJ Murphy 4:41
Yep, like I dont know.
Nicole Shearon 4:45
I think I had an idea of what I liked, right? But it was kind of like how am I gonna make this possible and everything like that, but so far, I feel like NC State has been a pretty good place.
CJ Murphy 4:54
I’ve enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed it. I think it’s I mean, it’s obviously a huge school,
Nicole Shearon 4:58
Right
CJ Murphy 4:59
But that just means there’s like a lot to do and explore. So I like it.
Nicole Shearon 5:03
Yeah. At NC State, as I became a junior and a senior, I started discovering stuff like student media, so it was really nice to have that outlet. Of course, I was doing, poetry and stuff in my regular time, but just to be a part of something larger was nice because a lot of times classes in college feel so individualistic.
CJ Murphy 5:26
Right. Right. And it’s kind of just about you.
Nicole Shearon 5:28
Right? So it’s nice just to have, you know, a little organization I can go to and call home.
CJ Murphy 5:35
How long have you been in Windover?
Nicole Shearon 5:36
So I actually started last year as a volunteer. I was a literary volunteer, so I read specifically poetry for the magazine.
CJ Murphy 5:46
Nice.
Nicole Shearon 5:47
And then this year, I’m serving as the managing editor. So that’s like, a wide job description. But, you know I do a bunch of the managerial stuff, I think of myself as like a promotional editor as well. I do a lot of promotion. So yeah, but this is not an interview about me!
CJ Murphy 6:07
No, hey, you know, it’s a conversation, it is a conversation, right?
Nicole Shearon 6:10
Yeah, so can you share sort of what initially inspired you to pursue a career in the arts?
CJ Murphy 6:17
So, you know, the cliche thing, I’ve been doing art since I was a kid and I had never really considered it as like a professional thing that I could do. But there was a time where, you know, I was down during the Co Op, and I just stopped by the one Walmart in town and had gotten some craft supplies and was starting to put them (collages) together. And, you know, just that very basic, very simple, like, hour after work, maybe, it made me, you know, happier it was I could destress. And I was like, you know, I’ve got to be able to do this, like, if I can’t do this for the majority of my time, like, I’m going to be miserable. So, you know, I came back and you know, there’s this interesting period while I was switching majors, where I was like, okay, but like, do I really want to do art? I really want to do it. But I had the opportunity to speak to some professional artists.
Nicole Shearon 7:11
Oh, nice.
CJ Murphy 7:12
And, you know, I got really lucky because they just gave it to me straight. They’re like, you can do it. It’s gonna be, it’s gonna be a challenge. I think that not getting this whole. Oh, follow your dreams. Follow your passion. schpeel. I think just getting the like, I mean, yeah, you can do it, but you might have some ramen nights.
Nicole Shearon 7:31
Right. Right.
CJ Murphy 7:32
And I think that really was just like, No, I actually can do it and ever since then. I’ve just been working towards that path.
Nicole Shearon 7:39
That’s awesome. Yeah, I know, as like a poet, I think I came into college, and I had no idea how to pursue that. Just because it’s not made available. I think, I know, at least from my family, they came from a very traditional background in terms of like, you go to college to get like a specific skill, whether it be like an engineer or an accountant or whatever. But.. and I felt like I didn’t fit into that, like, I wanted more than just a skill based education.
CJ Murphy 8:08
That’s a hard conversation to have with, with parents sometimes.
Nicole Shearon 8:10
It is so hard. Yeah, it’s so hard. And, you know… but as I started getting deeper into my major NC State, I realized there are so many ways that you actually can pursue being an artist, and that’s what people don’t want you to know is that you can make it happen. Like, yes, it requires a lot of work. But it’s like, I don’t know about you, but it’s like I love being busy. Right.
CJ Murphy 8:36
You know, I don’t know if I love. I don’t mind being busy. But yeah, you’re so right about like, they just, they being I guess the institution as a whole, there’s just so many different career fields that are artistic that just kind of get swept aside unless you’re already in the school of art, So it was it was nice, like switching majors and then learning like, oh, like you can be a curator or preparator, conservationist and there’s like a million things you can do. So that was nice.
Nicole Shearon 9:07
I actually, I’m kind of into like, archiving. So like archivists, like at the library, they have the Special Collections. And I think that’s like more of a tangible way to do some of the work that I like doing. Yeah, so it’s just interesting, the way that you kind of like discover yourself through college and kind of find your interest and stuff like that. But tell me a little bit about like, your co op, why you’re like, after your co op, or like during your co op. You were like “no I cannot do this anymore.”
CJ Murphy 9:40
Well, you know, the co op was it was you know, it was this full time work experience. They they paid for housing down there, they just shipped this down or like live and work as an engineer.
Nicole Shearon 9:49
Okay
CJ Murphy 9:50
So for around six months, I was just working at this place and it was fine. I was using my textile engineering skills at the time, right, but It you know, engineering is about solving a problem And the shortest, you know, and cheapest solution to said problem. So, you know, they’d be like, oh, we need a fix for this machine, or we need you to optimize this process, but they don’t want a solution that looks nice. Because it’s a factory, you know, they just want a solution.
Nicole Shearon 10:20
Right
CJ Murphy 10:20
So I would find myself just kind of designing just like blocks with screw holes in them, most of them but then that’s, that’s what worked. Yeah, it’s just so it was so boring to me. So boring. And not all engineering is like that. And there’s, there’s a lot of engineering that does incorporate more creative things But at the end of the day, you know, if you work at a company, they’re gonna want you to do things the cheapest. Yeah, and, you know, I like being really extraneous.
Nicole Shearon 10:50
Yeah. Facts.
CJ Murphy 10:52
And, you know, being creative allows me to be super extra for lack of a better word. So I think that was kind of the switch where I was like, I could do this, but I don’t want to do this. And I don’t have to do this.
Nicole Shearon 11:04
And I imagined just like, you know, you said, like, you picked up craft supplies, you just picked up craft supplies. I imagine that must feel so liberating to like, have this outlet. It’s like you can do anything you want. And like, juxtaposed with your day, when you’re just like working for like, these capitalist institutions.
CJ Murphy 11:26
It was it was nice, though. You’re right. It got me through the co op. I’ll tell you that much.
Nicole Shearon 11:29
Yeah, well.
Nicole Shearon 11:32
So let’s move a little bit more into like your process. Like, I know, you focus on collage, like, that’s a big part of your work. But how do you begin a new piece? Or is there a particular process for you or ritual for you?
CJ Murphy 11:45
So as far as process goes, I like to start a lot with just where I’ve like, read things. “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman. I love that book. Okay, well, a lot of things from there. Because, you know, I just I love taking, like, very, not necessarily mundane things, but, you know, things that kind of get overlooked, right? Yeah. And, you know, just like blowing that up to the the most surreal extent that I can write. So, you know, once I have this, you know, random image that’s popped into my head of, you know, whatever, like, a, an African mask surrounded by all these flowers, or, you know, a man with airplane wings instead of angel wings, or whatever. You know, then is the research phase is what I like to call it, where I just, I do a lot of material gathering, I do a lot of Amazon ordering for parts and stuff. And, you know, the the I would say the most fun part is when I have all of the materials and I have all the supplies, because from then on, nothing’s really planned. Yeah, I may have had an idea, you know, in the beginning, but after that, once I have everything, I kind of just let it this is gonna sound weird. I kind of just let it build itself in a way and let it put itself together through my hands. And, you know, sometimes that ends up with something that is very similar to the idea that I planned but sometimes it like, it’s like, completely different. And I’m like, Well, this has been an interesting evolution. But…
Nicole Shearon 13:22
No, that is so true. Like, I think, I will come into like, I write poetry, obviously. So I’ll come into a poem. And I’ll have an idea. And I’ll be like, Okay, this poem is gonna be about my mom, and everything like that. And then I have no other like, preconceptions beyond that. I sort of just arrive at the page and whatever spills out, spills out, because I found that if it’s surprising for me, it’s usually surprising for the audience.
Nicole Shearon 13:22
There we go. It’s a fascinating, like, creative process I don’t know to let art make itself.
Nicole Shearon 13:55
Yes. True. So yeah, yeah, I took well, I’ve actually taken a couple of classes with him workshop classes with him. But Professor corral, Eduardo corral. Yeah. He, yeah, he’s leaving soon which is sad. But he sort of…in his classes, he would talk about how you sort of like, you can’t control the language, but you can sort of like maneuver it. And I’ve always thought that was so interesting. It’s like, yeah, in order to create something that’s surprising and unique you can’t have it all planned out in your head…
CJ Murphy 14:28
Because if you do, you’re not creating really.
Nicole Shearon 14:31
Right, exactly. And it’s not surprising. So yeah, it’s just so interesting, the way you know the similarities between poetry and like your visual art. So similar, the process is similar. But let’s talk about like you mentioned, surrealism and your work, and also doing research on you. You talk about like black bodies and the way that they function in our society. So can you talk about the way that your work blends sort of like the mundane and the magical with the surrealism, can you elaborate on this balance how you achieve it?
CJ Murphy 15:05
Sure. So, um, you know, I don’t know if this was necessarily like a decision that I made, or it just kind of happened. But I pretty much only use like, African American bodies and black bodies when I’m, you know, doing any kind of work,
Nicole Shearon 15:18
Right.
CJ Murphy 15:19
And I think that it was just an attempt to, I’m gonna say equalize, like, the depictions that we see of black bodies and art. And, you know, not that there isn’t a place for the, the stories of the struggle and the stories, and all of that, not that there’s not a place, but I just really, I didn’t feel like I needed to add to that.
Nicole Shearon 15:45
Yeah.
CJ Murphy 15:45
And instead, I really just wanted to depict them as they were, and I like to put them in very odd settings and some very odd backgrounds. Because I think that, you know, we’re, we’re more than just the bad things that happened, you know, over Time. And I think that we’re finally, at a point in history, where that narrative can begin to shift away from just that. So yeah, that’s, that’s kind of that’s kind of just like, the, the main gist of it is, you know, just I want to see something new, I want to see something a little new.
Nicole Shearon 16:25
No, I mean, that’s so true. I think there’s a lot to unpack here. But um, I mean, growing up, I mean, admittedly, I grew up in very, like white centered spaces. And I grew up in like, environments that were considered like leftist or liberal. But it’s so interesting to me, because when we talk about black history, or we talk about, you know, like individuals and their contribution to American society as a whole, you know, we oftentimes, like at least the people who were educating me, it’s like, they only focused on like, slavery.
CJ Murphy 16:25
Exactly.
Nicole Shearon 16:25
You know what I mean? And it was like, yes, like, that’s an important part of the story. But it’s so limiting.
CJ Murphy 16:44
And it’s not the only part of this.
Nicole Shearon 16:46
Exactly, exactly. And, you know, the people who taught me, they were very well meaning, but they were also very white.
CJ Murphy 17:18
And, you know, just just, sometimes you’re in a different perspective, and it might not necessarily cross the aisle fully. And yeah, it’s, it’s, that’s what happens.
Nicole Shearon 17:28
And then also, like, Black History Month, like, I feel like, Black History Month is always so atrocious, like, just to be like, Okay, here you go, like, here’s the shortest month of the year
CJ Murphy 17:39
28 or 29 days. I guess we get 29.
Nicole Shearon 17:42
Yeah, but it’s just like, I don’t know, I had a rhetorical criticism class earlier today and we were talking about how Black History Month like, well, specifically, like they’re, like, black people in our class talking about how like it didn’t hit this year. And I do understand that, but also, just like the concept of black, History Month in general. I feel like it’s just…
CJ Murphy 18:05
Like, here, this is your time and don’t speak about it any other time.
Nicole Shearon 18:08
Yeah, its just problematic within itself. I don’t know. But I like I really appreciate your work in this sense of like, you want to expand the narrative, but also just like, that’s the way it is.
CJ Murphy 18:19
Right? That was like, you know, I just, I’m just depicting it as I see it.
Nicole Shearon 18:23
Exactly, exactly. Yeah, so that’s beautiful. So let’s move back into a little bit of, you know, like collage, like, I know that you really liked that medium.
CJ Murphy 18:36
I do.
Nicole Shearon 18:37
So tell me specifically what draws you to this medium? And, you know, what you find inspiring about it?
CJ Murphy 18:43
Sure. So, you know, I think, you know, when I when I made all I still I still make some collages now. But you know, when I was first starting and making just a bunch of collage, I think I’ve really enjoyed the limitation. You know, some some artists do say that limitation, you know, really breeds creativity.
Nicole Shearon 19:01
Right
CJ Murphy 19:02
And, you know, I did find that to be true, you know, I was generally working with found materials, every so often I’d print something out like really wanted to use an element. But just being like, okay, you can only use 2d stuff You can only use what you find in magazines, give or take two pieces. and 18 by 20 Like, make something And I find that that was just really good for the creative process. And, and just because the materials were so cheap, I really never had to plan anything, right each each day I could sit down at a desk and just be like, okay, like, here’s what I have, and I can make something it was a very free way of of creating. I still make collages every now and again. But I’ve moved more into like two and a half d 3d stuff.
Nicole Shearon 19:52
Oh, yeah?
CJ Murphy 19:53
And that of course, right requires a bit more planning
Nicole Shearon 19:56
right, right.
CJ Murphy 19:57
Start off with but the collage was just it’s nice. It’s very freeing, you know?
Nicole Shearon 20:01
Yeah, that’s so interesting. Well, it’s kind of ironic because, you know, you’re working in like these predefined boundaries, right? But then for some, for some reason, it’s like, you have to use your creativity within these limitations and and you end up creating something that’s like, even more interesting.
CJ Murphy 20:19
You know, it’s just it’s like the, it’s like a physical representation of the whole being way greater than the sum of its parts.
Nicole Shearon 20:27
Yeah, definitely. Just relate it back to my experience, like poetry. We all obviously, like there’s free verse, I tend to write free verse most of the time, but we have constraints and poetry as well. And it’s with like, traditional forms. So we have like the sonnet, for instance,
CJ Murphy 20:44
Right 14 lines volto, all that
Nicole Shearon 20:45
right and abecedarians which is like, essentially, like each line of the poem begins with the first begins with a letter of the alphabet. So the first line is like a, it begins with a word that starts with the letter A. And then the second line, starts with Word that it begins with the letter B,
CJ Murphy 21:02
and all the way down,
Nicole Shearon 21:03
all the way down. Right.
CJ Murphy 21:05
Sounds horrid to write. That’s very hard.
Nicole Shearon 21:07
Yeah. So it is very hard. But, you know, you kind of get in that space where it’s like, you have these constraints, and it makes you think more creatively. So yeah, like, I totally relate to that. But talk more about, like, your sculptures that you’re doing.
CJ Murphy 21:23
Sure. So I had a studio visit a couple of months ago. And, you know, this is still when I was doing like a lot of collage. And he saw the collages. And he saw some of the little 3d things that I put together,
Nicole Shearon 21:38
Right.
CJ Murphy 21:39
And he was like, you know, this is good, like, you’ve done some good stuff. And I was like, thank you. And but he was like, but like, I can tell that there’s something more that you want to do. Oh, yeah. And I was like, you know, you’re right. And I’m glad he was able to sense that. Right. And I think there was a part of me that didn’t want to move into sculpture. Okay, for various reasons, you know, impostor syndrome, obviously. Oh, there. Yeah. You know, there was a little bit of, of marketability, you know, today because, you know, I want I want to be a professional artists know, for real things to sell, right?
Nicole Shearon 22:16
And what’s more marketable a print or a sculpture?
CJ Murphy 22:19
Exactly, you know, and I was like, Oh, I’ve sold collages. I don’t want to do something that I don’t know if it’s gonna sell or the whole the whole dilemma, but eventually, I made one. I think the only one that’s on my website right now. But I just had so much fun making it I made it from a spirit Halloween skeleton,
Nicole Shearon 22:38
Oh, my goodness,
CJ Murphy 22:39
Like, sliced and diced and did up and did all this stuff, too. And just the act of creating it was so fun. Yeah, I was like, Well, you know, I’m not going to stop the collages. Right, I want to improve on those skills. But this was fun. And I want to do it again. So I just started making more of those. I made one that had like, a bunch of security cameras on it.
Nicole Shearon 23:02
Oh, yeah!
CJ Murphy 23:03
Is one that like, has a bunch of trumpets, which was a mess, because trumpets are kind of heavy. But, you know, it really just was more about the fun for it. And you know, now that, you know, they’re kind of just sitting up in my, my studio, they’re very, it’s almost scary for me to go to my studio now. Because I turn off the lights. And there’s like, four to five, like six foot tall humanoid things, right? But it’s just it’s more fun. I just find it more fun to make sculpture. Yeah, contemporary sculpture, whatever you want to call it.
Nicole Shearon 23:34
Yeah, no, that’s really interesting. But it’s interesting. Like, we talked about the constraints of being an artist, like you not only have to make something that you like, and you feel as authentic, but you also have to sort of cater to people.
CJ Murphy 23:52
The public. Yeah. And that’s, that’s a hard balance it is. And, you know, we all wish we didn’t have to do that. We all say we could just make our art for us. Right. But you know, we all gotta eat.
Nicole Shearon 24:04
I remember actually…so, the first time I really saw your work, I remember we were in a poetry class together. And one of the assignments… there was an assignment or something and your response to that assignment, essentially, was I remember it was a sculpture. And it was like a spherical thing.
CJ Murphy 24:21
Yeah, yeah. The fig.
Nicole Shearon 24:23
Yeah!
CJ Murphy 24:23
The first fig ha ha…
Nicole Shearon 24:25
You’re like thats so….
CJ Murphy 24:27
I think Day still has it actually.
Nicole Shearon 24:29
Oh, awesome.
CJ Murphy 24:30
If they kept it in their office or something, I’m not sure. But, you know, for that first assignment, I was like, Well, I you know… don’t if you’re Meg Day, don’t listen to this… but I was procrastinating on it till the night before. And I was like, okay, like, I’ve got to do something and I could write something but it’s gonna sound like it was done last minute. I was like, Oh, wait, I have a bunch of clay and nails leftover. Like, let me you know, work with that. And it ended up great and I liked it.
Nicole Shearon 24:57
So yeah, I remember just being like… when you were introducing I was like, wow, like he is so ahead.
CJ Murphy 25:04
I try I try. You know, I’m like, I gotta get this assignment done. So I just bam, bam, bam, put some nails in some clay figs and called it a day.
Nicole Shearon 25:13
Yeah, I mean, you gotta do what you got to do. So let’s talk a little bit about mediums. You know, you started with collages, you’re sort of interested now and working with sculpture, 3d stuff. But are there any other artistic mediums you see yourself working with in the future?
CJ Murphy 25:32
Um, I have always been fascinated, just out of curiosity by like, the filmmaking process. Oh, okay. Yeah, I don’t know if I would ever actually go into the film industry, because like, it’s just such a own thing. Yeah, but I don’t even want to mess with it. But you know, just for fun, just like throwing together a short film or some other, you know, nice pretentious thing like that. I think that would be really fun just to get behind the camera do that. Nothing I would ever pursue professionally. But I think I think film is so fun.
Nicole Shearon 26:03
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I think it could be fun. I mean, I feel like I don’t have anything to add to that just because I feel like film is so far outside of me.
CJ Murphy 26:13
It really does just feel like its own thing. Yeah. I don’t want to go near it. Right. Yeah. But maybe yeah, that would be something future when I’m like stabled financially and all that.
Nicole Shearon 26:20
Yeah. So let’s talk about just a little bit of is there a specific message or feeling you aim to convey to your audience through your art? I know, we touched upon this a little bit, but is there anything else that you feel like you want people to know about your art? Or?
CJ Murphy 26:39
Well, I think at the end of the day, I’m really, I’m really not trying to send any particular message, right, I just want to make something that if even for a second, like short circuits, the viewers brain run any bad way. Because that sounds bad. But just in a way of like, like, I was looking at things one way. Even even if it’s temporary. I’m looking at things another way. Right. And, you know, even if they go back to the way they were thinking before that that brief time where they were just imagining, you know, a new thing. That’s, that’s really all I aim to, you know, I just…I just want to make something that people are gonna stop and be like, That’s cool. And they can keep going.
Nicole Shearon 27:26
Yeah, no, for real. I’m actually there. I bought went over the last edition, which you contributed to. And, you know, I feel like you’re, you submitted collages. And I feel like they’re amazing. But one collage that I really, really liked that you submitted last year, was I think it was “black bodies, white eyes.” Let me see. Let me see if I can pull it up.
CJ Murphy 27:50
I should know, I have like five copies of that book, just sitting at home.
Nicole Shearon 27:53
But essentially, it was like this…this black individual. And then you had sort of cut off a little bit of its face. And you had put, you know, like something that’s very, traditional Western art, which is like the white sculpture. I mean, we could go into that in itself about like, how you like… originally those sculptures were like painted, and then they were sort of like, scrubbed of that from the history.
CJ Murphy 28:19
And when we found them we were like “look, though they were white the whole time.” They were not.
Nicole Shearon 28:21
Yeah, exactly, exactly. Um, but like, I think that’s a way of like subverting, or like making things seem a new, do you know what I mean? Like presenting for your audiences of like, Listen, I’m a black individual, but I have to work in these white spaces. Um, so maybe tell us a little bit about like, your inspiration for black bodies white eyes like functioning like as a black man functioning and like these very white dominated spaces.
CJ Murphy 28:49
So that collage is it was it was really hard to photograph that the piece of the face that’s the like, Greco Roman sculpture, right? It’s it’s a it’s a 3d printed piece.
Nicole Shearon 29:00
Oh, wow. Okay,
CJ Murphy 29:01
oh, collage actually does have like a depth element to it, right? Yes, isn’t gonna come through on the page. But I based this piece off of a paper that I actually had to read for an anthropology class Oh, nine called black bodies, white skin.
Nicole Shearon 29:15
Oh, okay.
CJ Murphy 29:16
It was written in the 80s by this black philosopher. And it essentially just went over, you know, what, what we’re talking about of like, you know, black people, we got to exist as black people, right, also under the purview of white America. And it kind of added, you know, this other layer of like, now, you know, you start to see this, this, this internalized racism, right, coming, and I think that’s where I got the white eyes part from, right because, you know, like, our, our tastes, our influences, our likes, our hobbies or dislikes are influenced by what we see and right. Oh, right. And, you know, for for a lot of us, that is white media. Yeah. And that’s You know, I don’t want to sound all dour, like that is starting to change, to see, you know, a shift in that kind of things, but it’s still very present. It’s still very present. And I think I just wanted to, you know, kind of put it put it on the page. And and, you know, sometimes people will see, like, Oh, this is like he’s making a big statement like his black radical. I just wanted to talk about real. So yeah, I really I do like that piece a lot.
Nicole Shearon 30:26
I love it. I really think it’s just, I think it’s one of my favorite pieces that you’ve done. Yeah, it’s quite beautiful. But let’s talk about, you know, we’re talking about, you know, like, a little bit about, you know, like your blackness and how it influences your art, but like, and actually, there’s one piece that I also really love. It’s the one that you submitted for this edition. It was the Samuel Joseph Brown. That one was really interesting. Could you like expand upon any cultural or like historical figures that you feel like have significantly influenced your, like, artistic journey? Sure.
CJ Murphy 31:09
So a couple trying to think Vanessa German, she’s a sculptor, she works out of Philly. And her work is fantastic. Like, yeah, does assemblage sculpture, she just, it’s, I mean, it’s like the collage of sculptures she just finds for stores and junkyards and on the sides of streets. And she, she just really knows how to put a sculpture together, right. And her colors are always fantastic. And they’re big. They work at scale, like she’s got one. And it’s like eight feet tall. And I think that, you know, regardless of how good of an artist you are, if you make something that’s eight feet tall, people are going to look at it right. So I am not at Vanessa German’s level, but I hope when I you know, really, really get into my my practice in my career, I can be there. Right as God I love her work. Historically. I don’t know if I have any like, really Aaron Douglas. He’s a he’s a painter from the Harlem Renaissance. And he did a lot of art deco stuff. I just love Art Deco. Like the style of it. Right? So those are my like, big two.
Nicole Shearon 32:18
Okay.
CJ Murphy 32:20
But you know, they they’ve gotten me this far. Yeah, I need to pick up some more major influences.
Nicole Shearon 32:24
Yeah, I mean, no, like I understand completely, like, there are always going to be those artists who have just, like, exposed you to this world. And they’ll always be like, your staples, no matter what. So for me, in my poetry, it was like, Oh, my gosh, Claudia Emerson, like, she has this book called late wife. And in it, she evaluates, you know, like her marriage and how it fell apart. But she also like sort of investigates, like her matrilineal heritage and the way that that has impacted her, you know, like her relationships with like, men and stuff like that. And I think that’s, like, so interesting. I mean, that’s like, what my work centers, so like, of course, but to see someone be able to do it, so tangibly, it’s like, amazing, like, your life is revolutionized.
CJ Murphy 33:15
Ha ha something like that. Oh, but yeah, you know, it’s just, it’s, it’s always been interesting. You know, when I do research on other artists, just to see what’s out there, Because, you know, previous to like, trying to do it, you know, as like a thing, right? You know, I was like, yeah, there’s sculptors or collage, or there’s paint, but even within these disciplines is like another, you know, infinite number of categories, right? I mean, the assemblage and the stone carving or wood carving, or re or yada, yada, yada. So it’s been fun. It’s been fun so far. Good, good.
Nicole Shearon 33:56
So let’s also talk about like, let’s sort of like contextualize your work now. So how has your art evolved over the years? You talked about it, you moved from collage and you talked about, like, your origins? But like, is there anything else that you feel like has influenced your evolution as an artist? Um,
CJ Murphy 34:17
you know, I think I was, I was very fortunate, and I was able to get a studio downtown. And, you know, previously to that, I was, of course, working at the kitchen counter,
Nicole Shearon 34:26
Okay. Yeah. Right. We always start somewhere, right?
CJ Murphy 34:29
We all gotta start somewhere. And, you know, that would be a mess. Because I’m like, Oh, I gotta cook dinner, I’ve got to throw off all this stuff. And, you know, I had the studio and I was like, okay, like, now I actually have space to like, work and leave stuff out. Right. And as a result, of course, the stuff that I made got bigger and bigger, right. So you know, that’s, it’s not like an artistic influence. But you know, just it’s so funny how like, just like life influences everything. No, yeah. In 10 to 15 years, it’s going to be very interesting for me to look back on this stuff, right and be able to just chart like, what was going on in my life based on how the work looks. It’s, it’s I’m like, okay, like, this is, this is interesting, you know, I was, I was able to get like a grant and then like, I’m able to do a lot more
Nicole Shearon 35:18
oh my gosh,
CJ Murphy 35:19
just like financially. So it’s a lot of my like, influence and changes, just, you know, still being a college student.
Nicole Shearon 35:26
Right.
CJ Murphy 35:27
A lot of it just fluctuates due to that stuff. You know, there was a time that I was, I was moving apartments, and that’s, you know, now I’ve got to think about that. And I started, you know, doing smaller collages in that period, because I don’t want to log right, right, you have masks or whatever else I was making. Oh, my gosh, new apartment. So that’s
Nicole Shearon 35:45
such, that’s such an amazing insight. Because, you know, like, we like to think of art as like this abstract thing, this thing that can like subvert? I don’t know, like the literal world. Right. Right. And but it’s like, the things that we make are so defined by, like, our limitations and our environment. Yeah. That’s so interesting. So you have a studio and you said that you received or you were able to get the studio because of a grant
CJ Murphy 36:15
I actually got the studio that my first studio was at a 311 Gallery downtown. Okay. And it was nice. It was really nice. Yeah, the owner Lakeisha. Reid. I just I had been around the gallery and I had volunteered there a couple times, but opening and she thought of me, fortunately. Nice. And then right now I’m at art space downtown. Right? Yeah. And then that’s when I got the grant from the United Arts Council. They do artists support grants, and they’re very generous with them. Oh, my God, if artists get them, which is Plug, plug plug for United Arts Council, because you guys are fantastic. Thank you so much for the grant. Yeah. But you know, it’s it’s just I’m like, wow, I can actually like make big things now. Because yeah, this this is there and I have the space for it. But I’m I’m outgrowing my studios, I need to know, I don’t know, it’s because I keep making all these big things. I’m like, I gotta put them somewhere. I might get a storage unit. Who knows? I’ll put them I’ll put them in here in the studio. Yeah,
Nicole Shearon 37:12
We talked about Okay, so you now have the space to create. But do you feel like the people that you’re around, you know, influence your art? Like, do you? Are you in any, like artistic communities where you’re able to sort of go to them and be like, This is what I’m working on. I’m having these issues. This is what I want to accomplish? Like, do you have that group? Sure.
CJ Murphy 37:33
So art space itself is a really nice place because it has a lot of studios in it. Like 20 Something studios and everyone makes just such bizarrely different work. Right. So you know, if I’m in there on a Thursday or Friday, we’re like, a lot of people are there, right? And there’s just this like, it’s like when you go to the library to study versus studying in your own room. Right? Just feels more productive. Yeah. And it’s just nice to know that like, you know, I’m walking down the hallway and I see someone doing painting, I see someone doing, you know, clay sculpture, I see someone I don’t know, gluing dead cicadas to Canvas, you know, there’s that that variety, and that, that five in there, you know that? That’s really that’s really nice. And really Yeah, helps me to be like, okay, like, I see what he’s doing down there. And even though it has nothing to do, right, I work on, it still makes me think and still makes me switch it up a bit. So yeah, that community at Artspace has really been, I’d say one of the bigger boons you know, as far as my work is concerned, that’s
Nicole Shearon 38:37
fabulous. Um, so this is a more of a personal question, just because I know you like on a, on a more personal level, like we’ve met before. But I’m like, You’re you’re you’re still dating prairie.
CJ Murphy 38:48
Yes. Yes. You know, and it’s because she’s doing her MFA. Hey, you know, in poetry and I think that, you know, getting to come home and like, it. It’s, it’s almost, what do we call it? We call our little literature salon. You know, I think that having that, like, literature, art and visual art kind of blend. I think it produces very interesting things on both sides.So it’s really… it’s a really good combination that I think has influenced my work in in very subtle ways. I wish I can point it out. You know, right. How… How have I been thinking poetically? Now, was it because when I got to college, I didn’t know anything about poetry. Like you know, Rupi Kaur “Milk and Honey” which I know it’s sacrilegious to even bring up but that’s like all I knew, right. You know, and but yeah, just like getting to like have that like really kind of weird like artistic. Yeah, interchange. It’s really nice. It’s really nice.
Nicole Shearon 39:53
Yeah, um, oh, gosh, I was gonna ask you a question. Oh, yes. Obviously, this is about your work, but Like, in what ways? Do you feel like you’ve influenced like Prairie’s work in a way?
CJ Murphy 40:04
That is a fantastic question. I’m not sure. I’m really not sure, I would hope. I would hope that I have at least provided a couple of good images. Or to latch on and incubate into into a poem or something. But I wish I could give you a specific example. I don’t know. She’s almost done with her thesis. Right. So when that comes out, you know, I’m really going to scan through. Yeah. Okay, which of these which of these came from me? You know, what line did I inspire.
Nicole Shearon 40:38
Right! Oh, my gosh, okay, so I’m gonna expose myself. I’m such a Prairie fan girl.
CJ Murphy 40:43
That is, that’s not a bad thing.
Nicole Shearon 40:45
It’s not a bad thing. Like I had Prairie in one of my workshop classes. And since that workshop class, I’d be like, I have to write like Prairie to every one of my friends.
CJ Murphy 40:55
That’s good.
Nicole Shearon 40:56
No, yeah. She inspires me so much. But also like, I like you guys are like my artistic power couple. Like, I don’t know you super personally, but I know of you guys. And it’s like, you guys were like the Beyonce and Jay Z.
CJ Murphy 41:10
Oh, no,
Nicole Shearon 41:12
it’s true. You guys are fabulous artists. And it’s just interesting to see the way that or just to talk about the way that you guys like inspire each other and how, you know, her poetic work is an influence for your artistic or your visual art and vice versa. I don’t know. It’s just such an interesting concept.
CJ Murphy 41:31
You know, it’s it’s interesting to us too. And yeah, it’s always unexpected. What random cross links and concepts that will come up. Right. So yeah, it’s nice. Yeah.
Nicole Shearon 41:45
All right. So this is kind of my final question, just to wrap everything up. But are there any upcoming projects or exhibitions that you’re particularly excited about? Is there anything you want to plug? like your Instagram?
CJ Murphy 41:59
Let’s go down the plug list. The shameless plus list.
Nicole Shearon 42:02
Okay, go go.
CJ Murphy 42:03
My Instagram is @cjmurphy.art. I post there sometimes, occasionally. My website is cjmurphy.org. And my studio is 108 at Artspace. And right now, what am I working on right now… I have a sculpture a larger sculpture that I’m working on. So the one with the trumpets. And it is. It is both the most expensive thing I’ve made and the most frustrating thing I’ve made so far. But it’s almost done. And it is going to be in my humble opinion, personal opinion. Fantastic, so if you guys are ever downtown on First Friday and you stop an art space and go to studio 108. You will see a very odd sculpture looking back, but I promise you it’s it’s pretty cool.
Nicole Shearon 42:49
Oh my gosh, I’ve been meaning to go to First Friday since forever.
CJ Murphy 42:53
Well now you have a reason to go. See all the weird stuff that I put together. Yeah,
Nicole Shearon 42:58
Exactly. That’s just amazing. It’s been so amazing talking with you. Thank you.
CJ Murphy 43:03
Yeah. Thanks for having me.
Nicole Shearon 43:04
Of course. You’re such an interesting person to interview. Your art is fabulous. I just want to reiterate that for the millionth time, because you are I’ll take it. But anyway, thank you guys for listening and tune in next time for our next interview of a fellow NCSU artist.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai