Alphabravo

Crown’s ongoing interest in presence and finding one’s bearings through the attention to bodily senses manifest through her ALPHABRAVO series. 

This ongoing body of work draws upon a phonetic alphabet. Initially developed for aviation, the alphabet is now used more frequently to facilitate clear mobile communication. There is a quiet urgency to this coded language, both in the words themselves and in the rhythm of the language. 

Crown’s treatment of the selected colors, surfaces, and materials abstract the language of aviation into skyscapes. The pale gouache is applied perfectly in the negative space so that the letters themselves are formed by the color and texture of the linen substrate. Animated with subtly glittering microspheres, these works are altered by the viewer’s movement and the surrounding light sources. Through these subtle reflections and color shifts of the paintings, the works suggest a liminal space between the seen and unseen, what is represented and what is not.