A CLEAR CHOICE:
Time and motion are the thematic concerns of my artwork. They developed out of my early experience of growing up on a one acre island in Canada near Lake Huron. Being surrounded by water and sky, I became keenly aware of all the subtleties of change that occurred. Like a double exposure photograph, the water mirrored the above water phenomena and revealed the objects in motion below. I was extremely attracted to the notion that while this floating world recorded change, it also seemed to defy time and gravity. As a result of this experience, I became fascinated with anything that appeared to be in visual layers, in a state of suspension or in implied motion. Consequently, I have always searched for some material that could create this illusion. That material turned out to be clear acrylic and with it I can investigate and push the boundaries of my conceptual concerns. Depth and dimension are created by painting and drawing with many kinds of media on both sides of the clear acrylic. When viewed from the front, the two sides optically fuse and there is a sense of multiple layers. The lines, forms and colors appear to shift back and forth and seem to be in a continuous state of flux. I try to underscore this feeling of flux by compositionally creating imagery that enters and exits the picture plane. However, a paradox occurs: all the visual elements that appear to be in a state of motion also appear to be suspended or frozen within the material like objects in ice. Clear acrylic beautifully performs the objective of arresting time and stalling gravity. With this material, the possibilities for expression and creative exploration appear to be…. WITHOUT END.

- Margaret Smithers-Crump