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Show Notes:
The River of Life by Suzanne Wright Crain
Since October 2001, I have been working on mostly abstract paintings created using “living water” and the flow of bodily movement with sound.
This ongoing body of work entitled “The River of Life” consists of 50 acrylic paintings on linen and canvas. This work was first exhibited during Contemporary Art Month, July 2003, at my studio in the Blue Star Arts Complex. Eleven of the images from this series are currently on exhibit at the Silo Restaurant and Bar.
My background in “Continuum Movement” and environmental work compel me to try and capture the movement of “living water” (water from unpolluted springs, wells, rivers..,) on canvas. It interests me to explore form by combining painting with movement . “…All the forms and movements found in the human being appear spread out all around in nature. The opposite is also true. All movements and forms that the universe holds in readiness meet in the human being and are thus united at a higher level.” The movement of water creates vortices, branching, ripples, spirals, waves and bubbles on the planet as well as in our own bodies. The movement of water and fluids create and maintain our bones, circulatory system, and define embryonic development. Just as a rose initiates its shape by water folding over on itself to create the first petal, we can invoke this same spiraling action by tuning into our body's movement. This folding over is the spiraling action of the golden mean, the DNA spiral that forms the building blocks of all life.
By consciously painting with living water I am attempting to create a dynamic within each painting that evokes a sense of curiosity about the origins of life. The link between living water, the paintings, and the living water moving in the body allows a sort of interplay in fluid dynamics, creating a felt sense of resonance with the work.
My process begins in a sacred place, usually a spring or well, where I baptize the gesso prepared canvas/linen in the water. I pull the fabric out of the source and I allow these images to suggest themselves to me through the initial flow of water onto the fabric. Then, I interpret these flow forms and bring them out through the application of liquid acrylic paint moving my body and the fabric all the while, as the piece emerges.
In working with the living water, especially in the Kentucky pieces, I baptize the gessoed linen (before stretching it) in the stream then lay the wet piece in the snow while I apply the paint. Ice crystals form a fan like pattern while the wetter areas run coalescing into bursts of color and form. As the water turns gently to ice the paint trapped beneath takes on the shape of the vortices and swirling streams. Later, I place the pieces in the sunlight to lift off the ice layer and allow them to dry. Beautiful patterns of life come through and dance about the surface. I sometimes call these paintings my experiments with water, because they seem to blend scientific inquiry and creativity.
After the underpaintings are dry I move back to my studio to complete the process. I've created a movement space in my studio and as I stretch the larger paintings on frames I begin to move. I lye down on the ground and sense into myself using the methods taught in Continuum Movement. This extends the process of flowing back and forth between the paintings and movement in my body and allows all sorts of interplay in fluid dynamics. I often see the next step in the development of the image after I have let it go and simply moved with the forms, at first imagining the composition inside myself and then feeling where that movement wants to go. The willingness and curiosity to be open and to be led is essential to finish the piece.
I strive to hit a potent frequency in my paintings as well as my life. In my work I often wait for something to happen, a small change towards a higher frequency, which cascades pulling the painting up a level, resonating in waves, movement, and color. Invoking this frequency expresses itself through a sense of union with all life. We humans are the movement of water on land and as an artist, through grace, I find this essential frequency and I am able to ride it into a wave of fluid painting. I am humbled by the beauty of the experience. The end results are fluid biomorphic images in vibrant colors (magentas, turquoises, fuchsias, chartreuse, yellows and purples). The relationship to the fetus and other life forms happens due to the reenactment of water forming our core being called Embryogenisis. In embryonic development we see our brothers and sisters connecting via water.
While working in Wales last Fall I became very ill and soon afterward, experienced a water healing in our bath at a London hotel. This experience gifted me with understanding that the water that flows through all creatures (and one could argue all things) is the primary carrier of form. For me these paintings have the feeling of “Water as Ancestor.” They are my experiments with water. The choice in this series was tap water or “Living Water,” and the use of “Living Water” has made all the difference.
Suzanne Wright Crain's fine art background includes sculpture as well as printmaking and painting. She is perhaps best known for her bronze portrait of the late Isamu Taniguchi, installed in Zilker Park , Austin . She attended the Elizabet Ney Conservatory and the San Antonio Art Institute prior to earning her B.A. in art from Incarnate Word. She also earned an M. Ed and enjoyed many years working with non-profits as an outdoor learning and play consultant. Ms. Crain is a student of Continuum Movement.
I want to thank my teachers Emile Conrad, founder of Continuum Movement www.continuummovement.com and her partner Susan Harper. The groundbreaking work of Theodore Schwenk and William Marks also influenced this work.
Emile Conrad & Susan Haper, co-founders
Schwenk, Theodore. Sensitive Chaos: The Creation of Flowing Forms in Water and Air
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