This Charlotte artist paints to let people know ‘they are seen and valued’

Charlotte artist Eva Crawford finds beauty in faces.

She’s created two series: “Seen” and “See of Humanity” using images of family, friends and strangers.

A year ago, Crawford started painting portraits over collaged elements – pages from the Bible, an encyclopedia. They became part of her “Seen” series.

“I need to paint people to let them know they are seen and valued,” said Crawford, 58. “They were largely African, people with disabilities and people dealing with mental illness.”

“See of Humanity,” a watercolor series of collages faces, are painted from a collage she makes by hand. Crawford uses photographs of people – ones she’s taken, found or received permission to use – as a starting point.

She tears the photos and makes a collage, and paints a new image using the collage as her model. The way she paints the torn edges is like Trompe l’oeil, or trick of the eye. The finished watercolor looks like torn photos but are really one piece of artwork.

“It’s very violent because I am painting them so up close, I’m seeing their jagged edges and their ripped threads,” she said. “This is a time to bring humanity back together. Bring broken relationships back together, make something new.”

Eyes of a stranger

Makoto Fujimura, author of “Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life,” inspires Crawford. In his book, he discusses Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing pieces of broken pottery with gold. The idea is that the new piece is more precious than it was before.

“I am processing that idea as I am mending these relationships or these people through this collage watercolor process,” Crawford said.

The people in Crawford’s paintings are usually friends and family. Sometimes she meets a stranger and asks permission to use their image in her art.

After a stranger on a New York City subway said to Crawford, “I appreciate your eye contact,” she painted “Eye Contact,” an acrylic on Metropolitan Transit Authority subway tickets and “Eye Contact 2.” The brief conversation had an impact on Crawford: The man just wanted to be seen.

Crawford is cognizant she is a white woman sometimes painting Black and brown faces. One friend gave her feedback on the placement of her collage pieces: Be careful what faces are overlapping each other.

“It’s made me very aware of what piece goes on top of what piece,” she said. “I want to be careful not to dominate a composition. I don’t want it to appear like it’s a negative statement.”

A ‘Beautiful Combination’

Chanelle Hall saw Crawford’s painting, “His Eye is on the Sparrows,” last year at The Breath & The Clay event in Winston-Salem. She stared at the piece, a girl from Uganda carrying a baby on her back, even got close to the canvas, she said. (Crawford herself had adopted a son from Uganda.)

“I noticed how she painted the skin color of the Black children,” Hall said. “It was full of vibrant colors... It wasn’t just brown or tan, darker hues. It was full of yellows and reds, greens and blues... I stopped in my tracks because of how she painted and depicted the depth of color.”

Hall later thanked Crawford for taking the time to see the color of skin and honoring the depth of skin tone that creates blackness. Later that year, Hall posted a selfie on social media to commemorate her locks and Crawford asked for permission to use the image in one of her collages.

Hall, along with Cathy Grammar is depicted in “Beautiful Combination.”

Crawford’s work may be seen virtually: “Global Joy” is in the Arts Council of York County’s 31st Juried Competition Exhibition until July 26 at the Center for the Arts in Rock Hill.

“Wonderfully Made” and “But by Faith” are in the Bill and Patty Gorelick Gallery at Central Piedmont Community College through Dec. 18. Faculty, staff and students may visit the gallery on the Harris Campus/Harris Conference Center.

Ten of Crawford’s pieces hang in Pauline’s Tea-Bar Apothecary in West Charlotte’s Camp Greene neighborhood. Sherry Waters, the shop’s owner, chose Crawford’s pieces because they “embodied the peaceful serene environment of the tea bar.”

Art and family

Crawford received her Bachelor of Fine Art in painting and print making from UNC Chapel Hill. Over the next few decades, she worked for a furniture design firm in High Point, painted portraits and raised a family.

She taught art at Charlotte Christian School for 13 years, until 2018 when she decided to become a full-time artist.

Crawford also is a 2018 ArtPop Street Gallery artist. And she displays more than 40 pieces of work in her C3Lab studio in South End. And Crawford was awarded a 2020 Arts & Science Council Community Supported Arts grant.

Illuminate

What: Eva Crawford and 14 other ArtPop Street Gallery artists’ original work are presented in the Bill and Patty Gorelick Gallery.

When: Now through Dec. 18

Where: View the exhibit virtually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i72DR40efNU

Cost: Free

Details: http://blogs.cpcc.edu/cpccartgalleries/pattyandbillgorelickgalleries/

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