ArtsyChiitos | Infiniti Crafting Co

Infiniti Whitley a.k.a ArtsyChiitos

Infiniti Whitley is a St. Louis native, mixed media artist. She graduated from St. Louis Community College in 2019 with an honorific AFA – Art Education and is currently pursuing a BFA at Fontbonne University. She has displayed work at Ferguson Sculptureworks art gallery “Mystics and Materials”. Her works reflect that inwardness, being greatly inspired by thought. Infiniti exploits the organic properties of fluid art in stark contradiction to straight geometric lines and representational forms. Her use of primary colors juxtapose black and white, representing the multiplicity of human emotion. The more complex aspects are represented through the randomness of design in the media. Her artistic interests continue to evolve, experimenting in fiber arts and design.

In 2018, she began using her passion for art education to start Infiniti Crafting Company, a sole proprietor committed to teaching the fiber arts online. From here, she began a career in crochet and knitwear design as she continued her undergraduate studies. While this micro business became her priority, she still continues to create art under the pseudonym, ArtsyChiitos. Infiniti has taken a small hiatus from producing paintings as she continues to focus on her business. However, she has begun to fall in love with creating again through ceramics. Ultimately, it is Infiniti's goal to inspire others to use their creative gifts for their own cathartic release. By building Infiniti Crafting Company, Infiniti has found a way to use her decade of artistic experience to create a world of intrigue for herself and others.

Education

2020-2024

Bachelor in Fine Arts - Studio Concentration in Painting and Ceramics, Business Administration Minor
Fontbonne University

Experiencing a rich, studio intensive curriculum, Infiniti sought to find ways to enrich her business experience as she completed her undergraduate education. She became enchanted by the challenges of 3D art and changed her concentration from solely painting to add on ceramics. While deepening her knowledge of business management, Infiniti found a way to blend her love for fine art with her fiber arts business.

2016-2019

Associate in Fine Arts - Art Education
St. Louis Community College

A studio intensive fine arts path that also incorporated teacher education in its curriculum. Students graduated prepared to further their education in a BFA, with half the courses required for K- 12 teaching certification.

Infiniti was the president of the Fine Arts Club from 2019 - 2020.

Campus Peer/ Orientation Leader from 2017 - 2020 where she aided in student acclimation to the college environment.

Grab a copy of my CV for a fuller scope of my artistic experience

Artist Statement

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Fluid Art - Ravena

I was commissioned in late April of 2021 and given full artistic liberty outside of the color scheme of gold, black, red, and white.

This piece reminded me of the golden mirror from Snow White and the Huntsman, so I named it after the evil queen.

Materials: Acrylic & Tempra

Measurements: 30”x40”

c. May 2021

Commissioned/Sold

Abstract Expressionism - Creationism

This piece was one that challenged me to venture outside of my comfort zone. It is representative of how intricate, chaotic, and beautiful creation is. In my experience, the execution of the work is never initially clear. It is the mess of ideas and color that come together that form a surprising end result.

Measurements: 30” x 40”
Materials: Acrylic on Canvas

c. April 2019

Available/TBA

Geometrics on Monochrome

For my Design II final, I were tasked with creating work inspired by the artist, Bryce Hudson. The minimum size requirement was 8” x 10” and we also had to use black , white, and gray in the composition. This assignment was optional for me but I enjoyed the design process so much that I took it on anyhow. I added my own twist to this project, opting for using fluid art in juxtaposition to geometric forms.

Measurements: 24” x 36”

Materials: Acrylic & Tempra on Canvas

c. May 2019
NFS

Introspection Series Pt. III - Weight

Introspection III (a)

The extended arm of the first panel represents accepting the hand that is dealt. The black, white, and gray represents the good, the bad, and the muddled silver lining that often accompanies life. The combined material is flowing into an open hand with few other options but to take on the mess. The shapes are painted with the primary colors to represent individual, but jumbled up emotions of happiness, anger, and grief. In this rendition, I experimented with negative spaces and unfinished shapes to reflect how nothing is certain. These open spaces can be perceived as alternative pathways to some solution.

Introspection III (b)

The center panel represents a cleansing of the heart. Though some of those basic emotions remain, most of the negativity has been processed and flushed from the core. I used darker pigment toward the top of the heart to hint at unresolved conflict or turmoil. The inky color is pumped through the heart only to come out of the bottom end in a crashing wave of white and gray. This is to say that it is possible to regain positivity from dark times. Unframed, the piece also represents the unboundedness that is the healing of the human heart.

Introspection Series Pt. IV -Sound of Vibrance

I am often inspired by music and the mood it sets. Sometimes a melody resonates so deeply that I find myself listening to it ad nauseam, until it creates a visual in my mind's eye. In this piece, I wanted to represent a chaotic vibration with the primary colors to represent the physical feeling that music often has to me. The black, white and gray shapes represent ideas that form and bounce around while the right song is playing.

I used to think that this was an odd process for kindling my creativity. From this single painting, I conjure up a plethora of vivid emotions, most of them happy, and a sense of nostalgia.

c. April 2023

Materials: Acylic, Chalk Pastel & Tempera on Canvas.

Size: 14" unframed but wired/ ready to hang.

Price: $115

Availability: Open

Introspection Series Pt. V - Grief (Momento Mori)

The Introspection series began in 2019 as a way for me to express extreme emotions. Ultimately, venting while adding touches of levity for public viewing. The concept has always involved representative elements along with fluid art to create a sense of disassociation.
This iteration of the Introspection series, focuses on the stages of grief. In February of 2022, my mother passed away suddenly. It was the beginning of the spring semester in my junior year at Fontbonne University. We'd had a very complicated relationship in life and the aftermath of her loss created many more of those complex feelings.

While preparing for my senior exhibition, my grandmother's mobility started to suddenly and drastically decline, to the point where she had to be whisked away and undergo surgery. All of this came down a couple of weeks before graduation but my granny was at the forefront of my mind. The possibility of losing her felt so very real at that time.

This triptych started in one stage of grief and has ended in another.

This triptych was featured in a Senior Thesis gallery in April 2024.

This series is comprised of 3 - 30" x 40" canvas. Frames made by hand.

Canvases are hung 16.24" apart at 76.25" high.

Total Size: 90" x 120"

Pastel, Tempra, Watercolor, Acrylic & Silver Enamel on Canvas.

Price: $7,385

Availability: For Sale - Email for inquiry.

Grief - Panel A

The first day of my mother's passing, I didn't cry. I felt numb about it and I also knew I needed to be strong for my brother who was 15 at the time. I'd just spoken to her two days prior and we'd laughed together over little things. I was walking in a surreal space because the weight of our not-so-great past had both been lifted and crashed down on me al the same time.

It wasn't until the next day that the emotions started charging in. I bawled, I sat in my grief.

For the first time in my life, I felt like I was allowed to feel and that it was okay.

The ribbon here conveys a sense of being pulled down. The fluid splatter and pour represents the pool of muddled feeling that would not let me go.

The yellow ribbon represents the "momento mori" or " In memoriam".

Grief- Panel B (Euphoria)

Because of the complicated and almost poor relationship we had, it was hard to not think on how life would now be different for me.

No longer did I need to be fearful of harsh words, stale judgment, and other mental abuse. I was free to be myself with a new confidence that no one had ever seen from me before.

Nearly a year to date after her passing, I learned that the father that I never met, passed away also. As a child, I'd bitterly been told that I was unwanted by my biological father because I was a girl and he did not want daughters. But that I had an older brother who he adored. I was told this at 7 years old and it was a pain point that stuck with me for my entire life, subconsciously. It was after his passing in 2023 that I start this series with this panel. This represents the sort of macabre dance that I had in aftermath of my mourning.

Mentally, I knew that my identity was not tied to who my parents were but there was always this weight bearing down on me, regardless. After it set in that I'd never know the truth of my origination, or that I'd never get to meet the second parent that didn't want me; A sense of pure release overcame me. I spent months working and over working this panel to show the intensity and the battering quality of this position.

The ribbon is meant to represent a sense of entanglement. The white background is the sense of weightlessness.

Grief - Panel C

This panel was special and is my favorite in a lot of ways. It is meant to convey release.

After a few months in 2022, I was ready to let go of it all. To escape the pent up negative emotions that had been poisoning me for so long. The fluid art here was applied especially thin in a humid climate so that it would flake off as it dried. Ironically, it was most of the black paint that came off and here it shows that breaking away perfectly.

The yellow ribbon here isn't about a struggle to escape. Instead I intended it to represent that I will always acknowledge the loss of my parents and the feelings it brought. But I am also trudging forward and trying to live out the better life that God has always wanted for me.

Astarion Ancunin

A year ago, I fell down an internet rabbit hole and discovered Baldur's Gate 3 🙈. It led to a whirlwind obsession with the game and anyone that knows me very well expected me to fall for the tragic white-haired vampire. What can I say?

I worked this piece from April til August 2024 and it helped me get through some stressful times in my personal life. Astarion as a character will always have a special place in my heart.

c. August 2024

Materials: Oil on Canvas.

Size: 14" unframed .

Price: NFS

My artwork indulges my own introspection. Each piece is a private journey through the components of one's soul, broken into simplistic forms that viewers must interpret. The flow of colors and implied lines is a loose pathway around the subject matter. The dynamic streaks of color create a dialogue between the abstraction, geometric shapes, and representational elements. The strong symbolism behind each work leaves the viewer to form their own relationship with the material.

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How To Purchase

Head over to the ' Get In Touch' button at the top of the page. Fill out the form with your name, email, and write ' ArtsyChiitos Purchase Inquiry' in the subject line. Write me a message and I will get back to you within 24 - 48 hours to hash out any further details.

If you are prepared to purchase art, some of the things discussed will include shipping and where to send the invoice. All invoices are powered through Paypal at this time.

How I Price My Art

It is important to me as an artist that Patrons see my work and understand some of my thinking behind various processes. Pricing is one of those tricky things that many artists struggle with, whether it has to do with pitching or the actual setting thereof. Here I want to give potential Patrons a glimpse at what my pricing process looks like. I promise they aren't arbitrary but instead are reflective of the real costs and over a decade worth of experience.

Below, please see my general formula for how I price my works:

(Material Cost)+(Studio Cost)+(Transportation Cost)+(Framing Cost)+(Shipping Cost)+(Gallery fee) x (1.0 - 3.0 PF Margin) = Final Price