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Jonah Criswell, Touching Despite Distance, 2020. Oil on panel; 10 × 14 in.
I frequently make paintings of other paintings I have made. Here, I am thinking about Francesca Woodman, an influence of mine. The image of the hand comes from behind a painting of Francesca in her studio. In my practice, making a painting of a painting or photograph is an act of affection and remembrance. Being influenced doesn’t feel like enough of a statement and these acts of painting images is about wanting to take that work into my body and then push it back out through my hand.
After turning my nose up at Albert York’s work, a colleague (Corey Antis) recommended I take a closer look at the work. An exhibition in 2014 at Mathew Marks gallery produced a monograph of York’s work. I later came to love his work and decided to make a watercolor copy of every painting featured in the catalog. There are 100+ watercolors if I recall correctly.
Raised in Pensacola Florida and Macon Georgia, Jonah Criswell earned his BFA in painting at the Kansas City Art Institute and his MFA in painting at the Pennsylvania State University. His paintings and drawings have been exhibited in Berlin, New York, Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis. He has curated group exhibitions in Berlin, New York and Kansas City. Currently he lives and works in Kansas City, Missouri.