Chris Crewe

Using a Sledgehammer as a paintbrush seems like a simple idea, most good ideas are simple. The hammer striking down creates an explosion which causes the paint to race outward and perform unpredictable maneuvers twisting in mid-air and skimming the surface of the canvas like skipping pebbles on a pond. The Sledgehammer leaves a hole in the canvas and I apply a paint-soaked patch to the back adding color to the open rupture, this highlights the aftermath in much greater dimension. Wrecking a thing, questioning a thing from all angles to the point where you have almost rendered it redundant; really pushing it off the edge. Taking this recklessness then taming it, reeling it in with line and color, recuperating it back into composition; finally making it consumable on the canvas. One can create an asthetically pleasing thing, it is easy on the eye but there’s no problem in it. I like the idea of solving something, my paintings need to have a struggle; the finished painting is my solution. Chris Crewe - 2019