KATY CROWE

GANYMEDE

My recent body of work is very well described in the following passage by Mary Jones, “In Crowe’s recent paintings, moons, eyes, orbs or circles move buoyantly around shallow planes of space. They appear to be wobbling, in formation, or perhaps in orbit. Untethered, and with the sensation of floating, the orbs move in and out of spatial frames, through portals, and against edges.” The title of my last show, Lunar Shift illustrated this idea of not literal space and objects in it.

Finding the painting is an intellectual exercise that happens in the making of the painting and finding color is an intuitive process for me, one color leading to the next. I am searching for a visual harmonic experience 

A friend of mine used to say, “Life is a matter of timing, and art is the timing of matter”. This quote is attributed to H.G. Wells, and it is an apt description of how my paintings come together. Sticking with a problem until it is solved and balanced is to work to find that moment when you realize there is nothing more to do. Granted it’s easy to miss these moments, but then you just have to persevere until you find the next moment when it’s right. 

Abstraction is a language that one chooses to learn. There are no fixed rules, and there are no fixed ideas that govern abstraction or painting. The solitary studio experience of painting is defined by the work that comes out of this discipline. Working through ideas and finding one’s way through self-imposed systems, breaking with these systems and experimenting with paint application is a commitment and a joy. Making a painting that is intellectually challenging and beautiful or visually arresting is the goal.   — Katy Crowe