What the soul has heard tell of: New paintings by Mary Crenshaw

 

‘What happens is the mind travels outward because it wants to be the soul it has heard tell of...’ (1)

 

Mary Crenshaw’s new series of powerful paintings ‘Desirable Residence’ take home as their central theme. In paintings that boldly push ideas to the very edge, Crenshaw explores the craving for what home provides – comfort, shelter, security, and stability – and the journeys we make to fulfill this need. In some canvasses, the trajectory towards ‘home’ is starkly depicted, from the chaos of dense brushstrokes and clutter of darker marks to the more serene image of a blueprint of a standard house against a white and blue ground. Most of the works convey a transitory state, often with the simple motif of home as a rectangle with an arched doorway and a triangular roof, set askew as if on uncertain foundations, or reduced to a black outline as though drawn as a graffito protest against the lack of housing.