Ebb & Flow

John Crawford

23 Nov – 13th Dec 2007

‘In what way might you know yourself if not through drawing and making.’(1)

Established artist John Crawford is adept in many mediums he produces works on paper with distinction and is an accomplished ceramicist. His exhibition Ebb and Flow speaks of place, identity and memory.

Crawford lives in Ngakawau, a small untamed piece of land on the West Coast of the South Island where the Tasman Sea and Southern Alps meet. Observation and memory merge to inform the artists’ process. Like a magpie he gathers images in the mind which later emerge in his work. Whether it is the patternation of a fish scale, tidal lines left in the sand, a childhood memory of fishing, the texture of a notched rock or a sea polished pebble; these are details he sees, stores in the memory and subsequently translates into his drawings and ceramics.

Hand-coiled, pinched and sculpted into shape, Crawford’s vivid orange Sinkers, tall graceful vessels and substantial oval bowls have a commanding presence, while his ‘six exotic objects set’, like beach combed treasures, possess a more reflective quality. Each form is decorated with perforated lines, marks and textures to reflect the ebb and flow of his local environment.

Crawford is a story teller, utilizing the landscape as a source of colour in his drawings to convey a sense of location. Working in oil stick and printers ink on paper, he builds a lyrical rhythm where delicate black lines score, thread and outline blocks of opaque colour, recalling the everyday experience of the artist. House, moon, tide, beach, the breaking of an axe handle, these are the uncomplicated background noise of daily living that form the basis of Crawford’s tales.

A practicing artist since 1973, with work in major private and public collections both nationally and internationally, John Crawford established his own studio in partnership with Anne Crawford over thirty years ago and has participated in exhibitions nationally and overseas in Munich, Taipei and most recently in Hong Kong.

(1) John Crawford, Artist statement, 2007

Catalogue Essay by Lydia Baxendell 2007

For further images and information please click on the link to the artist page: John Crawford