The work of German-born, Townsend-based artist Kira Krell takes center stage at the Mezzanine Gallery in Wilmington this month.
Born in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, Krell spent much of her adult life on the move, living in Europe, Africa, and North America. Her current exhibition, “Stone Formations,” is an homage to the varied geological formations she encountered during her travels.
Krell’s paintings are characterized by their deep attention to texture, the result of a multi-step process. That process starts with layers of different-sized sand, followed by plaster, and then paint, which she makes herself from pigment powder and a binding agent.
Krell explains that her inspiration comes from the natural world, and she prefers to do as much of her work as possible outdoors.
“My inspiration is nature,” she says. “And what we see in nature is that there is order. I like to translate that order onto my paintings, where I'm methodically planning my paintings out, but I also like the randomness that we see in nature.”
That juxtaposition between being methodical and intuitive is a central part of Krell’s work.
“There is a time when I'm working without really thinking much, and then there is a period of time where I think a lot and I plan,” she says.”
Often, she pulls and tears her paintings apart as a step in the creative process, making the reassembly of them a vital part of the final product. While she says that she doesn’t want to dictate the meaning of her art to the viewer, that technique does have significance.
“It's a reminder that life can come with challenges, but these challenges can be beautiful and they can really catapult us forward and they can be opportunities,” Krell says.
“Stone Formations” by Kira Krell is on display through May 29 at the Mezzanine Gallery in the Carvel State Office Building in Wilmington. The gallery is open weekdays from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
