Cynthia Norton
Mcleod Residence’s first anniversary party and exhibit opening will feature a special musical performance by Cynthia Norton, an artist exploring the boundaries between domestic crafts and new media, to coincide with the opening of her video quilt installation Apple Suckling Tree. The one-year anniversary party and performance of Apple Suckling Tree will take place on Friday, January 4, 2008, from 6-9pm. The exhibits run through February 2, 2008.
Apple Suckling Tree is a “video quilt” installation in the Parlor that consists of a central sculpture of a bed and a mattress. The quilt itself is a video loop that is projected through a kaleidoscope lens onto the bed, featuring artist Cynthia Norton playing music under the guise of her performance personae Ninnie Näive, a character based on the classic country genre of the rube in the vein of Minnie Pearl or String Bean. In the video, Ninnie plays instruments of her own making interspersed with voracious apple eating and apple accompaniment.
The bed frame is sculpted from apple wood and has the lyrics from Bob Dylan’s Apple Suckling Tree burned into it. Other sculptural aspects include shrunken apple head dolls and a flat-screen monitor showing more footage of Ninnie performing with apples. The piece draws upon the domestic and agricultural traditions of Cynthia’s Kentucky upbringing, but plays with the traditional boundaries of craft and folk art by being executed in an entirely new way.
On January 4, as part of the exhibit opening and anniversary festivities, Ninnie will throw a release party for her album Queen of Cups, and will perform in the McLeod Residence foyer with her handmade instruments and apples.
Cynthia Norton began experimenting with video, kinetic sculpture and performance at University of Kentucky and continued her exploration in graduate school at The Art Institute of Chicago while creating her character of Ninnie Näive. Since then, she has continued to mix traditions and media while focusing on her southern heritage.
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