Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Craig Stockwell Studio Visit



Sarah and I visited Craig Stockwell in his his studio last week, in Keene, NH. Its always a treat to visit an artist in their studio, to see their new art and pieces still in the works.You never know what gems you will find.

Inspired by modernist painters Matisse and Diebenkorn, Craig's paintings are vibrant and lively. We were immediately drawn to the color and movement. Interested in the relationships of the forms, Craig has been creating series, with nine paintings in each series.



He selects one painting from the series to enlarge, and then takes it a step further by recreating the composition on the wall, but by deconstructing and reducing to the composition's simplest forms.



Craig has also been working on singular paintings. He starts with a grid of circles. We love the layering of forms, and the play between transparent and opaque shapes on top of this grid. He frequently revisits paintings, reworking and adding to them sometimes years later, encouraging an ongoing dialogue.


Craig was selected by the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation to be awarded a studio in NYC this year. He leaves for NY next month.


- Jessica