For Immediate Release:

Private Branches:
Paintings, Drawings and Prints by Claudia Cron
April 7 through May 9
Opening Reception:
Thursday April 12, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Claudia Cron is a Connecticut and Colorado based artist whose paintings, drawings and prints reveal closely framed compositions of birds, bridges and forest trees. Cron’s “Private Branches” series consists of intimate anthropomorphic portraits of Quaking Aspen tree trunks, limbs and branches. Each work interprets the smooth chalky barked specimen as a habitat for implied wildlife and suggests human characteristics. Cron’s oil and gouache paintings in this series contain subdued applications of color against sublime atmospheric background settings. The dramatic surroundings are further emphasized as luminous highlights and scattered shadows cast down across skin like bark surfaces. Cron’s highly detailed achromatic etchings and graphite drawings skillfully emphasize the contrasting smooth ridged and pitted Aspen bark topography.

Cron describes her personal interest in the Aspen subject as both formal and poetic. “With their virginal white limbs reaching for the sky, Quaking Aspens appear delicate and vulnerable. However, they provide food and shelter for a multitude of animals. Their unusual markings are teeth bites. Their marred bark is evidence of having been ravaged.” The subjective content offered by these images invites viewers to freely associate upon the physical trace of environmental processes. “Private Branches” transforms the inherent structure of the Quaking Aspen into momentary views that unites the human, animal and vegetal. These scenes similarly evoke primal myths connected with trees and the delicate identity of endangered forests. Additional images of works by Claudia Cron can be seen at her website: www.claudiacron.com.

The Pegasus Gallery is located on the first floor of Chapman Hall.

Hours: Monday & Wednesday – 5pm - 8pm and Saturday – 9:30am- 1:30pm

Contact:
Matthew Weber
Art Curator
860.343.5806
or MWeber@mxcc.commnet.edu for more information