The DIRT LINES SERIES is a body of paintings that are the product of trips around Australia (inland NSW and desert areas of Australia) and America (Arizona, California & Nevada). The experience of being “in” the landscape is revisited inside the warehouse studio, at Roseberry Street in Balgowlah, in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney. Memory gives back what is important in the meaning and relevance of the landscape. The passage of time eliminates specific landscape detail, allowing the work to become symbolic in its abstraction, and personal in the automatic markings. Read More..
” The Land is my muse, an integral part of my life, and the universal theme of our connection to it underlies all of my work. The immense and large open space of the Australian landscape allows me to feel expansive and connected with the Universal Consciousness, the Spirit of the landscape, and this creates a sense of something greater within me: the mystical and magical experiences that only wanderlust can bring. When I visit the Australian outback or bush I see wide planes of horizontal bands of colour and texture which seem to recreate this expansive quality that I feel. I love texture, pattern and rich earthy colour and I often incorporate mixed media elements into my artwork such as dirt, ochre, ashes, sticks and seeds. “
- Candyss Crosby
The horizontal layers and lines in the paintings also echo deep sedimentary layers slowly building up under the earth over time. The thick impasto palette knife markings represent rocks, crystals, precious gems and stones that lie beneath the land. Native grasses and spinifex dot the land; fences, tracks, and posts reflect man’s impact on the land.
” I have always explored my passion for the Land and the influential forces of constant change. The intense colours of the DIRT LINES Series are intentionally rich and bold and seek to attract the viewer to look deeply into the painted layers of the land, allowing the eye to see what is painted underneath the surface paint. The horizontal bands of colour, a strong horizon line and repetitive and textural markings rise spaciously toward the vertical lines from the cloudbursts of rain in the distance which then bring the attention back to the detailed markings and textures in the foreground. The experience of visiting the land becomes an inward journey where, once creating, my memory, mood, and creative intuition spontaneously create new lines, gestures, markings and textures in the inner landscape. “
- Candyss Crosby
Candyss brought over a few paintings that my husband and I had chosen in the gallery as possibilities – but we weren’t sure which one to choose. We liked a few and needed to see them in our home.
She left them with us for a few days to mull over it together. Candyss helped with colour consulting for our feature wall to compliment the painting we finally chose.
We love our new painting – thanks Candyss!
- Tricia Johnson
Candyss brought over a few paintings that my husband and I had chosen in the gallery as possibilities – but we weren’t sure which one to choose. We liked a few and needed to see them in our home.
She left them with us for a few days to mull over it together. Candyss helped with colour consulting for our feature wall to compliment the painting we finally chose.
We love our new painting – thanks Candyss!
