A visual response to Federico Garcia Lorca's Tu Infancia en Menton for CutBank Literary Journal, All Accounts and Mixtures, summer 2014... full review and description available at CutBank Literary Journal
Medium: acrylic, gold and latex on raw canvas
Date: July 2014
Dimensions: 5feet x 9.5 feet
5' x 6.5' acrylic, latex, ink on raw canvas, 2011
Contemporary American Painting by Colorado Artist Crystal Hartman of Durango Colorado.
Detail Image of the painting measuring 5'x10'
Acrylic and Ink on Raw Canvas
Detail image of a contemporary, surrealist painting by American artist Crystal Hartman celebrating the Monkey within us during this year of the red monkey...
Full Painting size: 5' x 10'
Acrylic and Ink on Raw Canvas, 2016
18" x 24" contemporary watercolor on paper, 2010
*Interrupture Magazine, Fall 2012
22.5" x 30" watercolor on Rives BFK, 2010
*Merwin Altfeld Memorial Award for Storytelling in the Arts, 2010
22.5" x 30" contemporary watercolor painting on Rives BFK, 2010
(second side of diptych painting with The Pearl Diver)
From the series Pollination, a drawing study in ink on Honey Bees... Currently in the exhibition, Recurring Butterflies at Studio Colfax, Denver Colorado
Crystal Hartman, 2015
An ink and watercolor study of pollination and wild honey bees, painting and drawing detail on a 18" x 120" handmade paper scroll by Colorado artist, Crystal Hartman from Willowtail Springs.
From the series Pollination, a study of pollination, pollinators and specifically honey bees in life and art. An ink and watercolor drawing by artist Crystal Hartman on a Kazu Paper Scroll... detail of the scroll that is in total 18" x 60"
3' x 5' Pencil, Charcoal and Conte Crayon on raw Canvas... a large illustration
3.5' x 3.5' acrylic, ink, oil on canvas
Cover of Interrupture Magazine, fall 2012
22.5" x 30" charcoal, ink and watercolor on Rives BFK . contemporary art, narrative illustration
5' x 4' acrylic and latex on raw canvas, contemporary painting/illustration 2012
2.5' x 3.5' acrylic, ink, resin, tea, watercolor, wine on canvas
acrylic, blackberries, ink, resin, watercolor painting on canvas...
9" x 14" ink and watercolor on canvas and prepped for the cover of "Forty Years of CutBank" - and anthology from forty years of CutBank Literary Journal, Missoula Montana, 2013
4" x 6" watercolor on paper, 2013
Visual Poetry Review of Maureen Alsop's poetry collection Apparition Wren for CutBank Literary Journal, 2013.
Acrylic, ink and watercolor on canvas
22.5" x 30" ink, watercolor, wine on Rives BFK
Diptych . each side is 9" x 11" watercolor and resin on paper board, 2010
12" x 18" Intaglio Etching on Rives BFK by Crystal Hartman
5" x 5" on Rives BFK Printmaking Paper, Contemporary Art Illustrative Intaglio Etching
2.5" x 5" Contemporary Intaglio Etching of Barcelona birds on a streetlamp, Rives BFK
15" x 9" contemporary Intaglio Etching
15" x 15" Bicycles and Champagne illustrative Intaglio Etching
12" x 15" text and Illustration, hand-pulled, contemporary, four color separation lithograph, ink on Rives BFK
"a quirky personality, but agreeable with authority"
An Octopus on Favellas ... hand-pulled, contemporary stone lithograph by Crystal Hartman
Tryptich of Chine Colle with handmade paper and Intaglio Etching on Rives BFK addressing issues of Femininity in contemporary culture.
Exhibited at Lussedra International Print Exhibition.
22.5" x 30" conceptual drawing, charcoal, conte crayon, porcelain, pencil and ink on Rives BFK printmaking paper, portrait of Hunter S. Thompson as context for greater narrative in a drawing installation on Context and Communication
One in a series of five Large 22.5" x 30" contemporary, narrative drawings on Context and Communication. Ink, conte crayon, charcoal, pencil and saliva on Rives BFK printmaking paper.
Exhibited in The Barbara Conrad Gallery, Durango Colorado, the CU Art Museum, University of Colorado at Boulder, and in several private collections.
Drawing Installation:
The overarching meaning in this series of drawings is written entirely in the materials. Context, communication and perspective being at the heart of the piece, references to the daily mundane, media, and technology depict the spins in contemporary life. All but one piece are mounted on 29 sheets of Reeves BFK paper –high quality paper most often used for printmaking. The paper was left in the packaging, direct from France, until it was hung on the CU Art Museum Wall; thus, the heavily worked –dirty- front sheets lay on top of brand new –clean- pieces, referencing the used and new, as well as sketchbooks and the influence from this art form on the work. The nails chosen to hang the works are those most commonly used on the framework of track homes. The pieces are all individual but related by concept and the conversations between them. In many, text, titles and imagery relate neighboring pieces; for example: IT MAKES ME WANT TO PEE signaling the viewer to the porcelain toilette on the neighboring piece, etc. None of the drawings have been fixed to the paper –in time they will smear and fade- allowing each piece, like gossip, to take on a life of its own.
Communication. - 2005
30 sheets Reeves BFK paper, ash, charcoal, ink, nails, pencil, water, white Conte crayon
Depicting communication and lack there of. The key image, commonly confused for a hairy belly, is actually a portrait of Hunter S. Thompson, directly referring to his gung-ho literary honesty and self-awareness. In the bottom left-hand corner of the piece, a hand reaches towards the viewer from outside an open closet door. Taken from the story of a “kidnapped” handicapped child who had been mistaken for a midget, this image depicts the terror and yet the elation of the child when found the next morning. Swayed by altered perceptions this story embodies the ultimate lack (or misconstruing) of communication. While the title of the piece is very literal, much of the conversation is initiated by the neighboring drawing: “The goddamn fly.”
“The goddamn fly.” - 2005
30 sheets Reeves BFK paper, ash, charcoal, eraser, nails, pencil, water, white Conte crayon
The title refers directly back to “Communication.” Forcing the viewer to question the positioning of the works, the text is highlighted in the former piece. Distrust and confusion being common among viewers/listeners when a narrative is removed from it’s original context. Two birds sit calmly but smeared on the telephone wires as they eavesdrop on our private conversations streaming through the air. What exactly does an outsider’s perspective do to our discussions and thoughts? How does one overshadow another in a discussion and can the less communicative prove to be the stronger? Ash references “the cigarette break,” and the personal conversations shared between friends, coworkers and strangers initiated by something blatantly destructive. The text in this piece has been erased and while one is unable to easily read it, we know it is there… like something that has been said and taken back.
The toilette. - 2005
7B pencil, 30 sheets Reeves BFK paper, ash, charcoal, mechanical pencil, nails, porcelain, water, white Conte crayon
The center of the series, “The toilette.” is entirely about the conversation created between the viewer and the work. Near the bottom, the white text reads, “When you go to the bathroom do you close the door all the way?” A viewer who stands at a distance and takes the whole piece in, and a viewer who steps close enough to touch her nose to the work take entirely different experiences away –both are equally legitimate. Here, I believe that the viewer who looks close enough to read the white text probably would close the bathroom door all the way. Accordingly, I believe they would benefit from reading the entire written paragraph, and out of curiosity just might. The long paragraph is a literary orgasm. While never blatantly discussing sex, it is a stream of thought building in pace and intensity. From camping and clothing to Katrina and president Bush, it describes contemporary life, the literal context for the art. While dating the piece, it also dates the viewer’s perspective. The image in charcoal is a portrait with the buttonhole for a hoodie-drawstring repeated down the front –a reference to multiplicity.
Liberal Arts - 2005
7B pencil, 30 sheets Reeves BFK Paper, charcoal, eraser, nails, Number 2 pencil, quotes from “live updates,” cable broadcasting November 2005
Like commercials, direct quotes from live news updates (only live) separate the thoughts and experiences that inspired this work. The mundane daily experiences that are unique in my life but somehow familiar to someone else, are they really that unique?. Referencing the minor details in our lives that influence the perspectives that create each individual’s context for understanding. A little bit of everything that floods one’s mind as they attempt to converse objectively.
Suburban Homes Inc. and the “Homeownership Rates for the United States: 2005 (in percent).” - 2005
0.7 lead, 68.83 sheets Reeves BFK paper, mechanical pencil, nails, Swiss Miss “Marshmallow Lover’s Hot Coco” marshmallows, water
Mounted on 68.83 pieces of paper, 68.83 being the percent of homeowners in America, a number highly influenced by the development of suburbia and contemporary US lifestyle. The single sentence: “Do not touch your hands to M.A.’s clean white carpet.” discusses the idea of the suburban homemaker wife holding the ideal design element, influenced by “Trading Spaces” and other day-time TV, whose life is not quite what she aims for... the carpet is clearly not too clean. Swiss Miss Marshmallows reference the babies of the boomers coming home -mom has made snacks and hot cocoa is waiting; but it’s not homemade, it’s Swiss Miss from your local grocer -or maybe- Costco? The text brings up the idea of explicit sex, something we don’t commonly associate with suburban family life. This is not a judgment, simply a discussion of daily contemporary life and the perspective of a common North American viewer.
In total: the experience of the viewer and awareness of her contextual lens is the heart of this work.
assemblage piece created with The Panoply Project, homage to female artist throughout history.
burnt, wooden irons home installation available.
Video Installation . Run Time 3.33 minutes, left screen: American women talking, eating, laughing, right screen: chickens eating, squacking, hopping around in an ambiguous setting. Sound: Theme Music (The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) 2005
Exhibited at: The University of Colorado Art Museum, Boulder Colorado
United BAC! CCCB - Center for Contemporary Culture, Barcelona, Spain
Ink Illustration by Crystal Hartman from the Sketchbook, 2015
Ink Illustration from the Sketchbook... Crystal Hartman 2010