ARTIST STATEMENT
Art has been a cerebral exercise to peel away the emotional layers from which I look at the world. It is a way to communicate the traumas I have experienced, especially as a child. My digital color photography is the blending of two or more photos. Patterns are created from my photographs using Adobe Photoshop’s distortion filters under their photography program. No AI is used to create these. My photographs are printed archivally. They are numbered up to 25 in limited editions. Patterns are used to give some sort of order/reason for the trauma or to express trauma. Nature is my subject. Why? Because for a short time my anxieties begin to fall away with each click of the shutter. Nature’s subcategory, florals, are used to symbolize my deceased family. Do we not have flowers at funerals to represent our sympathy for those who remain here? I know my art tends to look all sweet and non-toxic, but the pain, depression and anxiety is easier to hide in nature, especially with flowers. It’s the smile we paste on our faces, so others don’t see our vulnerability. And flowers have special meanings too, such as a yellow rose means friendship, or a lily-of-the-valley means death. I use those meanings occasionally. And lastly, I must admit, flowers can symbolize me. I was told I was named after “the little flower of Jesus”. Since my conformation, I have figured my name means, “graceful harvester of roses”.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Theresa Richardson Crubaugh was born and raised in Peoria, IL. She moved to Florida to help her with depression and anxiety after a suicide attempt, at 16. Her father died when she was 8, Her sister, age 18, was murdered four years later. Worse yet, she was the only one left with an abusive and controlling mother. Her first art teacher was an ex-New York advertising artist, who apprenticed under Norman Rockwell. She was a high school drop-out. He talked her into going to college. She followed his advice. In 1979, she sold her first painting. She graduated with a B.A. in Art from USF, 1981. Her medium is mostly photography. Her first solo art photography show was at USF, “Greek Mythology: Through the Titans”. On the second day a gentleman offered her $1500 for the entire show. Having just been able to take in the whole show due to size, being so naive, and having no belief in herself, she told him, no. Photography continued throughout her life by freelancing, volunteering at a state park, and working off and on at photo labs. She went back to school for a B.A. in Classical Latin. She taught Latin with other subjects including art. She moved back to rural Illinois after thirty-five years of Florida life and joined a local art center. Her paintings have hung in Bloomington, IL at Behind the Glass Gallery, in 2019. In 2023 she became a member of Woman Made Gallery in Chicago.
© Theresa Richardson Crubaugh