Out on a
Limb is an ongoing series
conceived during a dream in 1997. The first image was taken some
hours later in Brookfield, Massachusetts in the top of a maple tree sixty
feet above the ground. This print (Grass of Leaves)
was first displayed months later at Clark University and was immediately
collected by the Worcester Art Museum and displayed in their Recent
Acquisitions show in 1998. In 2001, the Fitchburg Art Museum
displayed the entire series in a solo show and retained the print Paxton for
their collection.
The work represents a turning point within my photography, and I have
never looked back. It is the first body of work that accomplished
a clear passionate vision. Escaping the innocence and meandering
of my early work, these photographs represented a new connection with
life symbolized through one of nature’s most iconic structures:
the Tree.
Every photograph represents a bond with each specific tree; carefully
conceived and executed. Time in each tree is an intense balancing act,
accompanied by a feeling of driving without hands for minutes at a time. Simple
tasks take minutes rather than moments. These photographs are a combination
of the freedom of movement and dreams mingling in the abstract.
"OUT
ON A LIMB" PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIAN CROWLEY / CURATORIAL STATEMENT
Crowley’s tree top pictures
are created at personal risk and appropriately makes up a series entitled Out
on a Limb. Crowley hoists his view camera and tripod
to the upper branches of New England trees to produce downward, abstract
pictures whose visual components consist of limbs, foliage, and the ground
beneath. His Out on a Limb pictures reflect
the spirit of the Bauhaus artist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (who set the standard
for bird’s eye view photography in the 1920’s). Differing
from Moholy, Crowley establishes intimate spatial relationships by working
within the trees to give his imagery a unique perspective. Crowley
draws upon visual elements to enhance his abstract photographs. In Grass
of Leaves, he uses sinuous limbs to lead the viewer into
his picture and utilizes flat ground cover to stabilize his composition.
Crowley, a Worcester native, is a graduate of Rollins
College in Florida. He acquired his first camera at twelve to
take pictures of trains. He has exhibited in one-man shows at
the Wawrzonek Gallery (1995 Worcester MA), Clark University (1998 Worcester
MA), The Case Gallery (2002 Portsmouth NH) and the Burlingame Gallery
with Eliot Porter (2007 Exeter NH).
This exhibition reveals artistic transitions he has made
from the beginning of his career to the present. Brian Crowley
believes that an artist needs “to go out on a limb” in order
to explore new possibilities. He holds this belief after devoting
himself to photography over the past decade.
Stephen B. Jareckie
Curator of the Exhibition
Fitchburg Art Museum
