Crowell’s work has the similar, awe-inspiring impact of Abstract Expressionist icon Mark Rothko, the artist having eliminated figure and ground in favor of color and form – with echoes of a “landscape” featured in her quietly majestic art.
In fact, Crowell’s abstract landscapes could easily be interpreted as soul-scapes, with their fluid balance between abstraction and deliberate, if obscured, references to the natural world she venerates. Plant life, earth, rocks and light show up in her canvases as ghost memories of magical moments, pushing one critic to describe Crowell’s paintings as “memory maps.”
Surprising though it may be in the face of the surface equanimity, the production of a Crowell painting is a physically demanding, sometimes violent, process. Using sharp tools, layers are scratched, eroded and dissolved to reflect what occurs naturally in rugged landscapes – while the artist still makes space for random, happy accidents. Regardless, in the end, Crowell’s spare, but dense images are tethered to the artist’s spirituality.
Above all the artist has learned to trust the process.
Crowell has written: “The goal in my process is not to render something in paint, rather to allow the paint to suggest a path through the work as it develops. But I remain in charge of what to keep and what to discard, and how to structure and organize the image.”
Assessing her latest body of work, it becomes evident Crowell believes in the transformative powers of art and the ability of artists to conjure sensations through their work such as happiness, love, beauty, perfection, feelings we are all capable of experiencing especially when out and about in the healing presence of Mother Nature.
Since earning her MFA in painting from Arizona State University in 1985, Rebecca Crowell has led a life focused on her art. When she is not traveling for teaching or for artist residencies (in such places as the Catalonia region of Spain, northern Sweden, and coastal areas of Ireland), she works almost daily in her studio, drawing significant influence from her residencies and travels, as well as from the surrounding landscape.
“Certain kinds of landscapes move me and feel like home to my soul. They are rugged, wild, and vast places, yet they also contain softness, quiet and mystery. I’ve spent time in places like that in Ireland, northern Sweden, New Mexico and New Zealand – walking, exploring, photographing, and simply being alone in the landscape. Certain moments seem to hold an essence of the place, and these forms, especially strong sensory memories. Tapping back into these memories leads to my abstract vocabulary of color, texture, line, and shape.”
Painting satisfies a basic need for Crowell:
“(My work) is a channel to my inner self, a reflection of these meaningful experiences, and a path to new discoveries. My aim is to achieve structural integrity and strength through the accumulation of quiet passages and nuanced surfaces. I build up multiple layers of paint (with additives including cold wax medium, powdered pigments and sand). Sometimes the layers are thick and textural; other times they are thin veils of color. The layers are selectively scratched, eroded and dissolved, an approach that reflects natural processes of the rugged places I love.”
“In Summer 2021, Rebecca Crowell packed her bags and made the cross-country move from rural Wisconsin to Santa Fe, New Mexico. The experience and emotions associated with leaving her home of more than 40 years heavily influenced the newest series of abstract cold-wax works now on display at Slate Gray South. Crowell is a leading expert on the cold wax medium and has taught many workshops worldwide, including at Telluride’s very own Ah Haa School for the Arts,” adds Allison Cannella of Slate Gray.
Written by:
SUSAN VIEBROCK
Susan is Telluride Inside… and Out’s founder and editor-in-chief, the visionary on the team, in charge of content, concept and development. Susan has covered Telluride’s cultural economy, which includes non-profits and special events, since 1993. Much of her writing features high-profile individuals in the arts, entertainment, business, and politics. She is a former Citibank executive specializing in strategic planning and new business development, and a certified Viniyoga instructor.
