Incline

Multicolored thin horizontal lines that change color to produce the effect of a diagonal split of the wide rectangular composition
Catalog #: 
105
Date: 
2011
Artist: 
Carman, Craig
Subject Matter: 
Non-Objective

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Size: 24 x 48 in.
Location: First floor North LC
Donor: Purchased by Nicholas and Kay Colangelo.

About the Artwork

Craig Carman's abstract paintings explore the relationships among colors and patterns. In this painting, he creates an intricate web of paint. The pattern resembles modernist textiles by Anni Albers, as well as recalling Jackson Pollock's all-over drip paintings. Visitors to the Lindquist Center can compare Carmon's composition to that of Pollock's Mural (1943) in the University of Iowa Museum of Art's collection. Carman compares his compositions to weaving in their interlocking colors and suggest of depth.

Keywords: 
Painting, Non-Objective, Iowa, Anni Albers, Jackson Pollock, Cornell College, Abstract Expressionism

More about Craig Carman

b. 1959
Nationality: 
American
Biography: 

An Iowa native, Craig Carman graduated from Cornell College in 1982 and lives in Iowa City.

Artist Statement: 
I currently work primarily with acrylic paint, a medium which allows me to explore and celebrate a wide range of colors and effects. My paintings evolve through a process of trial and error, creation and destruction. Because acrylics dry so quickly I can layer on the paint and make changes easily. I rarely have a fully preconceived idea of what a painting is going to look like. I usually begin by laying down a field of color and go from there adding elements until I feel I’ve reached a conclusion. It usually takes me about a month to complete a painting, sometimes much longer. I’ll often hang an unfinished piece in my home and live with it awhile, and then bring it back into the studio for more work. Sometimes I’ll take a painting which has hung dormant on the wall for more than a year and begin to work with it again. What appears to be a completed painting is sometime just a state of rest in the painting process.

In the last three years I’ve focused on attempting to create a sense of depth through the interplay of overlapping lines and forms. As these painting have evolved quite often I found myself considering them as something akin to weavings. I enjoy examining the simple effects of color against color and the way the juxtaposition of forms define space.