Petra Cortright is a Los Angeles-based digital artist known for her elaborate paintings, videography, and digital media. Crafted from massive digital files on Photoshop, her paintings are often composed of physical and digital images, simulated brushstrokes, and marks that blend both abstract and figurative elements. Petra has exhibited at the Walker Art Center, Whitechapel Gallery, and the Hammer Museum, in addition to solo exhibitions around the world. Her work is featured in permanent collections at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Miami’s Péréz Museum, and the Moderna Museeit in Stockholm–amongst many others. She exhibits with Foxy Production in New York.

PETRA CORTRIGHT

I think to pursue mystery and beauty, these things are a bit subjective, so you can't really tell people exactly what it shouldn't be about. And also I have to preserve these things for myself. I primarily make the work for myself, so if I don't have some questions that are unanswered, even for me, then there's not really an interest to like keep going otherwise. So it's also sort of protection and a preservation mindset that I have about leaving things really open for other people and for myself.

This show at Societé in Berlin was loosely inspired by heaven and hell. I was really interested in American western landscapes. There's a bit of anxiety about wildfires nested and leaves, which are kind of things seeping in. I don't know if I made them when there was smoke. Every year now in California, there's ash raining down on the houses and smoke in the air. And the light gets really–it's actually really beautiful. It's incredibly ominous, the sky will get light orange, but for a painter, it's kind of fun because I just love painters...thinking about light and color.

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I really didn't see the NFT thing coming. For sure, crypto. I remember when internet artists were getting into that years ago and that always seemed like it was going to develop into something substantial, but in terms of the NFTs, I've just been very surprised and charmed by people all of a sudden caring about digital images because I spent so many years literally trying to figure out a way to print them out. It just wasn't seen as serious as an oil painting or something like that.

I think I tried every single platform that there is to try. I released hundreds of them, which was fun because my practice can allow that. The gallery system is very – I have to hold back so much – and also when you're making physical things, the physical paintings they're quite expensive to produce.

We can't make endless. It's labor-intensive, and it's expensive to make physical things, but with the NFTs, it just was kind of a way to show the range and the scale that is possible with my practice.

Artworks from recent exhibitions at Foxy Production and Societé in Berlin: BALEAF GYS AKADEMIKS MAAMGIC BROKIG:

This interview was conducted by Mia Funk & Jacob A. Preisler with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Jacob A. Preisler. Additional digital media: Megan Hegenbarth. 

Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process & One Planet Podcast (Conversations about Climate Change & Environmental Solutions).