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Installation view

 
 
 
 

Sarah Cromarty
WISHFUL THINKIN'
September 8 - October 13
Opening Reception: Saturday September 8th, 6-8pm

 

For, What with my whole world-wide wandering,

What with my search drawn out thro’ years, my hope

Dwindled into a ghost not fit to cope

With that obstreperous joy success would bring, -

I hardly tried now to rebuke the spring

My heart made, finding in its scope.

 

- from “Childe Roman to the Dark Tower Came” by Robert Browning (1812-1889)

 

KLOWDEN MANN is proud to present Los Angeles-based artist Sarah Cromarty’s WISHFUL THINKIN’, the artist’s second solo exhibition at the gallery.  The show consists of mixed-media sculptural paintings detailing a fantasy-world of the artist’s creation, one in which forrest and jungle landscapes are constructed with layers of oil paint over photographic prints on cardboard, glitter accentuates hyper-realized fingernails in front of misted palm tress, stalagmites reach up over water, and a freestanding (dancing) nude female exists caught in a moment of inter-dimensional travel and/or release.

 

Cromarty’s painting takes the conceptual and linguistic framework of science fiction as the starting point for an exploration of the mythology of the artist, as well as the near-ubiquitous human desire for escape from daily reality.  The figures and landscapes that populate Cromarty’s work are in many ways inspired by Steven King’s Dark Tower series, in which King expands upon and integrates a variety of storylines from the universe he has created in his books, and also begins to write himself into the narrative for the first time.  In Cromarty’s past work, her focus was on creating far-off places, and the world of humans who populated them became wizards in imaginary landscapes.  In WISHFUL THINKIN’, she has brought herself into the picture directly for the first time—not through physical reproduction, but by using her imagery to bring in her own desire for escape, as well as the frequent cultural narrative of artistic production’s close relationship to addiction and mental illness.   

 

In the back room of the gallery space, acting as a counterpoint to landscapes that articulate her fantasy world, Cromarty positions an installation of sand with a metal cart at its center, piled with painted cardboard limbs and remnants of past paintings.  Along with the lone female figure freestanding in the main space in the center of a circle of sand and glitter, these works behave as portals through which Cromarty consciously brings her personal desire for escape into the exhibition, including her personal struggles with mental illness and recovering from addiction.  Accordingly,  Cromarty says that all of the following are part of the history that led her to making these works: Fentanyl, Cymbalta, Norco, Lithium, Trazodone, Gabapentin, Lamotrigine, Clonidine, Vraylar, Oxycontin, Soma, vodka and Parliament Full Flavor cigarettes.  Outside these portals, the only figures that populate the landscapes are hands, referencing the artists’ hands, and  accordingly the idea that the desire for relief addressed in her work is not just cultural, but personal.

 

Fantasy requires both invention and the impulse for escape, but the tools to create a fantasy world are always grounded in the limitations of the language we already have; we build from what already exists, and even when creating something entirely new, we can only do so through the structures that have already informed our thinking.  Cromarty takes that axiom literally within the physical construction of the work, as well as its visual presentation.  First sourcing forrest and jungle landscapes from internet images, she then enlarges the images, edits them, splices them together, and affixes them to layer upon layer of cardboard.  She then works into the imagery with oil paint application so detailed that it is no longer possible to find where the source imagery ends and her enhancements begin. 

 

Many of the materials used are easily accessible and found throughout daily life, reinforcing the idea that the building blocks of a new world can be found where we already are.  The interplay between presence and escapism is intensified by the way in which Cromarty layers cardboard, matte board and paint in order to construct three dimensions while playing with two.  The combination of highly articulated representation with cardboard construction that revels in its own fallibility allows Cromarty to speak about escapist mythology and its limitations at the same time, while the three dimensionality of the work moves her constructed world out of the confines of painting and into our world, acting as a bridge and invitation for the viewer to enter.

 

Sarah Cromarty received her MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2012, and her BFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 2006. She has exhibited in Los Angeles at Klowden Mann, Night Gallery, Briggs Meleksetian Gallery, Charlie James Gallery, Sixspace and Circus Gallery, among many others, Bucket Rider Gallery in Chicago, POPA in Buenos Aires, Zic Zerp in Rotterdam and CANADA gallery in New York. Her work has been written about in the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and White Hot Magazine and many others. 

 

Download Press Release

  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Installation view
    13074
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Installation view
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  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Installation view
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  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Installation view
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  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Installation view
    13072
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Installation view
    13069
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Installation view
    13073
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Installation view
    13075
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Shard

    2017
    cardboard, magic, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood
    30.25 by 27 by 5.75 inches

    13039
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Shard (detail)

    2017
    cardboard, magic, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood
    30.25 by 27 by 5.75 inches

    13040
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Careless Whispers

    2018
    cardboard, beads, rhinestones, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, magic, wood
    30.25 by 30.25 by 4.25 inches

    13041
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Careless Whispers

    2018
    cardboard, beads, rhinestones, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, magic, wood
    30.25 by 30.25 by 4.25 inches

    13078
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Careless Whispers (side view)

    2018
    cardboard, beads, rhinestones, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, magic, wood
    30.25 by 30.25 by 4.25 inches

    13042
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Careless Whispers (detail)

    2018
    cardboard, beads, rhinestones, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, magic, wood
    30.25 by 30.25 by 4.25 inches

    13043
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Painter

    2018
    magic, cardboard, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood
    48 by 30 by 4.75 inches

    13044
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Painter (detail)

    Magic, cardboard, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood
    48 by 30 by 4.75 inches

    12971
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Painter (detail)

    2018
    magic, cardboard, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood
    48 by 30 by 4.75 inches

    13045
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Magician

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, magic, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, sand, stickers
    80 by 36 by 36 inches

    13046
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Magician (detail)

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, magic, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, sand, stickers
    80 by 36 by 36 inches

    13048
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Magician (side view)

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, magic, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, sand, stickers
    80 by 36 by 36 inches

    13047
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Magician (back view)

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, magic, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, sand, stickers
    80 by 36 by 36 inches

    13049
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Trazodone

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, matte medium, digital print, magic, oil paint, liquin, wood
    40.25 by 36.25 by 14.5 inches

    13050
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Trazodone (side view)

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, matte medium, digital print, magic, oil paint, liquin, wood
    40.25 by 36.25 by 14.5 inches

    13051
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Trazodone (detail)

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, matte medium, digital print, magic, oil paint, liquin, wood
    40.25 by 36.25 by 14.5 inches

    13052
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Here Comes The Fall

    2018
    cardboard, resin, magic, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood
    36.5 by 48 by 5.25 inches

    13053
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Here Comes The Fall (detail)

    2018
    cardboard, resin, magic, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood
    36.5 by 48 by 5.25 inches

    13054
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Gotcha

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, matte medium, magic, resin, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood
    57 by 43 by 5 inches

    13055
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Gotcha

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, matte medium, magic, resin, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood
    57 by 43 by 5 inches

    13056
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Guide

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, magic
    47 by 33.5 by 16 inches

    13057
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Guide

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, magic
    47 by 33.5 by 16 inches

    13058
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Guide (detail)

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, magic
    47 by 33.5 by 16 inches

    13059
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Guide (detail)

    2018
    cardboard, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, magic
    47 by 33.5 by 16 inches

    13060
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Beholder

    2017
    cardboard, magic, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, beads, rhinestones
    34.75 by 26.5 by 3.5 inches

    13077
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Beholder

    2017
    cardboard, magic, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, beads, rhinestones
    34.75 by 26.5 by 3.5 inches

    13061
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ The Beholder (detail)

    2017
    cardboard, magic, glitter, matte medium, digital print, oil paint, liquin, wood, beads, rhinestones
    34.75 by 26.5 by 3.5 inches

    13062
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Body Part Cart

    2016-2018
    found metal cart, sand, powdered pigment, magic, lighters
    60 by 48 by 28 inches

    13063
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Body Part Cart (side view)

    2016-2018
    found metal cart, sand, powdered pigment, magic, lighters
    60 by 48 by 28 inches

    13065
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Body Part Cart (detail)

    2016-2018
    found metal cart, sand, powdered pigment, magic, lighters
    60 by 48 by 28 inches

    13064
  • WISHFUL THINKIN’ Body Part Cart (detail)

    2016-2018
    found metal cart, sand, powdered pigment, magic, lighters
    60 by 48 by 28 inches

    13066
 
 

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