Installation photos of Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum by Wes Battoclette.
VIEW ALBUM & FULL SIZE IMAGES
Solo Exhibition: Coral Beliefs
Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum
February 23 – August 6, 2023
Opening Reception: June 9, 2023 | 4 P.M.
“Coral Beliefs is literally a deep dive into a unique world that many of us will never experience first-hand. Jill’s interpretation of that unseen world is magical and remarkable, yet fragile and in great risk of peril. This glimpse into that world allows us to experience one of the earth’s unseen treasures through Jill’s creative talents. ”
Coral Beliefs on view in Jill Krutick’s studio in a vertical format.
The Coral Beliefs
The exquisite beauty and the unprecedented tribulations faced by coral reefs around the world today are the driving force for this nearly 85-foot long monumental work. Through the interplay of watercolors, oil paints, acrylic mediums, paper collage, and an assortment of plastic materials, Jill Krutick creates an immersive, three-dimensional viewer experience. Though the work is made up of 25 independent panels, all the panels are considered part of one artistic unit that offers a 360-degree lens into the underwater world.
3-D Virtual Tour of Coral Beliefs exhibition at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum
Select close-up images of Coral Beliefs
“My recent work explores the use of texture, form and color to examine the eco challenges facing the world. What began as an escape to peaceful, imaginary fantasy worlds, like my Dreamscape, Shangri La and Aurora Borealis series, has now become an art practice exploring the impact of climate change on our earth and sea.”
The Coral Reef, mixed media on canvas, 72 x 144 inches, six panels, each panel 36 x 48 inches
The Coral Reef
Coral reefs have become the language in which I communicate as an artist. As a diver and self-proclaimed “eco warrior,” I see the world through a lens of underwater coral and sea life. The shapes, colors and movement are central to my work, and are designed to raise awareness about the threats to this natural wonder. This large-scale work will be featured in the small gallery at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum. It is a multimedia work comprised of six canvases, each measuring 36 x 48 inches (72 x 144 inches together).
Video: Creating Coral Beliefs
“Krutick’s genuine affection towards biological forms and colors ... sets her work apart.”
The Inspiration:
800 miles southeast of Mogadishu, Somalia sits one of the most pristine and magnificent remaining island chains in the world. In April of 2022 I had the great fortune to travel for two weeks to this collection of islands. I spent my time scuba diving on the pure coral reefs on the remote Alphonse Atoll, a rarely explored location. The underwater fantasy world was like none that I had seen before. This trip became a key source of inspiration for “Coral Beliefs,” a momentous piece to celebrate the beauty and fragility of our undersea world.
“The interdependence of coral reefs to thrive mirrors my philosophy as an entrepreneur in the world of art. ”
On Contours of the Earth: Aridification
It wasn't until I tried watercolor that everything shifted for me as an artist. Watercolors required patience and "belief" in the process. The most challenging part of watercolors was walking away from the work after applying the color and letting nature take its course. Through my “Contours of the Earth” series, I examine post-apocalyptic imagined shapes of the world after the effects of climate change. This watercolor-based series imagines the impact of melting ice caps or "The Big Thaw," “Rising Sea Levels,” and the drying of the land/sea through “Aridification.”
Video: Contours of the Earth: Aridification
“Color is charged with emotion, suggesting that color, emblematic of love ... made Krutick, an exquisite colorist—a master of nuanced colors...”
3D Model of Main Gallery at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum with Coral Beliefs on “view.”
Nightly ritual in the creation of Coral Beliefs:
At the end of each studio day, I developed a work flow of documenting the development of each of the panels of Coral Beliefs.
The process would begin with an i-phone photograph of each of the panels that I worked on that day. I edited each photo with Lightroom Classic and then uploaded the photo into InDesign for closer examination. I added the images to a rendering of the gallery and also to a “pairs” file that looked at groups of panels close-up to see if the transition from panel to panel was smooth. After all that, I printed and laminated the scaled images and put them into my 3D model to get a sense of the project’s overall perspective.
This process helped inform the next day’s studio activities and gave me a sense as to the overall balance of the color and texture in the piece.
Featured Paintings
Exhibition Catalogue
Explore the selected works and essays for Jill Krutick’s fourth solo museum show, "Coral Beliefs," exhibited at Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum in Hamilton, Ohio, from February 23 to August 6, 2023. Printed in 2023. Book design by Dan Ellis and installation photos by Wes Battoclette.
Jill at work in her studio …
Working on Coral Beliefs 17, Elegiac and Coral Beliefs 18, Interactivity
About Jill Krutick
Jill Krutick (b. 1962) is a contemporary abstract expressionist who painted privately for over 30 years and studied at The Art Students League of New York. In 2010, she began publicly exhibiting her work. She has been praised by world-famous art critics and has had multiple solo museum exhibitions.
As a young painter and pianist, later as a media executive and board member, Ms. Krutick has spent her life dedicated to the arts. Painting emerged as her greatest passion, which she now pursues full time in her Westchester studio.
Her work is in private and public collections as well as the permanent collections of the Coral Springs Museum of Art, Yellowstone Museum of Art, Longwood Center for the Visual Arts and University of Pennsylvania.
Film by Stick Figure Productions. 2019
Video length: approx. 7 minutes
Turning Points in Jill Krutick’s Artistic Development: Video Presentation
Film by Simone Kurtz
Video length: approximately 3 minutes
Related Press & Blogs
Brochure
Press Release
American artist Jill Krutick will open a solo exhibition, Coral Beliefs, comprised of her richly embellished abstract paintings influenced by her passion for the underwater world at the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum on February 23, 2023. A reception will be held to celebrate the exhibition on June 9, 2023 from 5 pm – 7 pm.
Shop
Coral Beliefs Signed, Limited Edition Box Set - Boxed blank greeting cards with envelopes
(Assorted Set of 25)
The Way We Were Duvet, matching pillow cases