Crystal DiPietro Fine Art

"We live in a rainbow of chaos." Paul Cézanne

STATEMENT

For most of my life, I have been creating photographs and paintings inspired by the beautiful places I visit.  It is with art and photography that I am best able to express my great joy in exploring the natural world.

With a painterly eye, I explore the effects of changing light and color on composition.  One of my favorite challenges is capturing dramatic and subtle contrasts between light and dark.  There is an element of chiaroscuro in virtually all my works, representing the fleeting moment when the subject is lit in full glory only because surrounding subjects are subtly or more harshly shadowed.  I explore the effect of this interplay of shadows and light on mood.

As an avid hiker and explorer, I never sit in one location for long periods of time waiting for a perfect picture.  Instead, I carry my camera everywhere on my journeys and use it to capture brief moments of incredible light or composition as I come upon them.  In this way, my photographic work is very spontaneous and impulsive, often depicting my initial impressions of a place.

In my paintings, I continue the exploration of light and composition in the landscape in a more deliberate and in-depth way, emphasizing my own perception of an area to convey the way I feel about it. I may distort perspective or exaggerate color to create a new composition with a heightened dramatic atmosphere.

I spend most of my time hiking in Wilderness Areas, often exploring off trail. I hope to experience the natural world as far from civilization as possible and then to share my adventures through my art. I have no interest in capturing the tame and idyllic, nor the bucolic and pastoral. I create bold compositions, colors and brushstrokes to emphasize that these places are wild and dramatic.

Within these bold and wild landscapes, I also intend to show the subtle beauty in a moment or a place that the viewer might never have thought to look. I hope to convey my excitement and wonder in finding a new arch, a flowering cactus or a view from a mountain peak.  It is my hope that the viewer of my art will come away with a new respect and appreciation for the world(s) around him or her and that, ultimately, more people will go discover, explore, cherish and protect these "new" worlds on their own. 

EDUCATION

 1988-1992       B.F.A. - Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington, DC

  1999-2000       non-degree art courses - American University, Washington, DC        

2007    Juried Show - Contemporary Arts Collective - Las Vegas, NV  (Juror  - Sara Kellner)

2006    Group Show – Contemporary Arts Collective - Las Vegas, NV

2005    Solo Show – Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse Rotunda - Las Vegas,   NV            

2005    Best of Show Juried Show (BOSS) – Winchester Cultural Center - Las Vegas, NV (Juror - Michele Quinn)

2003    13th Annual New Images Exhibition – New Image Gallery - Harrisonburg, VA  (Juror - Mary Ann Redding)

2002     Photo Op 2002 – Millennium Arts Center - Washington, DC

2002     Photo Op 2002 Juried Olympics Art Show – Artspace Forum Gallery - Salt Lake City, UT  (Jurors - Bill Wooby, Abraham Lubelski, John Telford)

2000     Juried Group Exhibition –Cafritz Gallery - Washington, DC

2000     Juried Competition  – Adams Morgan Cultural Center - Washington, DC

1999     Group Exhibition – Watkins Gallery - Washington, DC

1992     Thesis Exhibition – Corcoran Gallery of Art - Washington, DC

1991     Juried Exhibition – White Walls Gallery - Washington, DC (Juror - Brockie Stevenson)

PUBLISHED WORKS

"Angles" - Las Vegas Review-Journal 6/17/10 - ad for Gold Butte

"Flax" small inset photo in 2010 Wild Nevada Calendar, Friends of Nevada Wilderness

"Spirit Mountain" photo featured in 2008 Wild Nevada Calendar, Friends of Nevada Wilderness

cdipietro@cox.net