Artist FeatureJeremy Crowle – Studio Visit

Jeremy Crowle

is an interdisciplinary artist – a painter, designer, printmaker, and photographer from Vancouver, Canada. Born (1978) and raised in southern British Columbia, he draws inspiration from a coastal landscape and evolving social culture.

In the last decade Jeremy has split his time between creative firms and his studio, exhibiting his personal work internationally while continuing to pursue typography, design and architecture.

www.jeremycrowle.com
http://www.jeremycrowle.com/blog/

We had a chance to sit down with Jeremy last weekend at his boathouse studio on Galiano Island for our first studio visit…

You’ve had a strong history as a graphic designer in Vancouver and now you’ve relocated to Galiano Island and placed a greater focus on painting. Have you consciously made this transition or has it been more unintentional?

J:  I knew that the move would promote significant shifts that certainly included medium, but i didn’t know to what degree. I just let it happen, and now i spend about half my day painting and a few hours on a computer.

How is it that much of your inspiration comes from the cold matrix of the internet and yet you are deeply invested in traditional practices such as oil painting and print making?

J:  I’m currently very fascinated with the contrast of digital and physical relationship. My role as a designer has influenced that, but it comes through in my fine art practice because relationship in some context has always been the center of my motivation. I feel like traditional art practices are an appropriate way to challenge or comment on the moral principals of evolving social culture.

Have you found that your two practices are informing one another; be it conceptually or in the execution?

J:  Absolutely. I work from digital images, I’ve been doing photo shoots for paintings over skype, the whole process is very woven. It is more social design in this case that I’m interested in. What resources do we have to communicate our feelings with, and do these resources actually influence the feelings we have?

I’m sure it has required much discipline to work and survive in this comparatively isolated area you live in, do you find that your work is referencing a growing internal dialogue or is reaching out further to the audience?

J:  I would hope a bit of both. When i moved to Galiano i didn’t know what to expect, but i can say at this point referencing my own relationships, and a very evident internal dialogue is one side of balancing the relevance of subject.

When you look at the current state of the creative sector of Vancouver are you inspired by it or inspired to look beyond it?

J:  Vancouver’s new creative leaders are inspiring more than ever, because they are open to influence from international artists and a global perspective. The Vancouver Biennale, and other international exhibitions are reasons for my faith in Vancouver to continue. However, there are so many rich creative cultures out there that I’m grateful to be a part of. If we are a global city, it’s important to identify how other cities are fostering art movements and how they are adapting to ours.