Gayle Crites

Bark comprises some of the world’s oldest cloth, and is still hand-pounded by indigenous women in locations ranging from the south Pacific through the Americas to Africa. I use varieties of this cultural art form from Tonga, American Samoa and Nicaragua as the “canvas” for my works in this show. Historic natural dyes of indigo blue from India and cochineal red from Mexico contribute more natural elements to these works, which connect ancient humankind to the burgeoning population of our modern world. Just as men have always relied upon trees for materials and oxygen, another connection between the ancients and modern society is our dependence upon, and challenges with, water. My most recent body of work reflects a theme of water and the concepts of flow, aquifer, drought, pollution and the tangled problems we face in using and preserving humanity’s lifeblood.

Gayle Crites was born in 1949, Denver, Colorado. She earned a BA/Fine Art Printmaking from Colorado State University in 1971 and continued studies at the University of Mexico, Guadalajara. She has traveled to various countries to study the use of natural dyes, focusing her time with Zapotec weavers and dyers in the Oaxaca region of Mexico. She acquired barkcloth from Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, Nicaragua, Africa and Peru, also through her travels and connections with individuals living abroad. Her work is featured nationally in magazines and books, museums and galleries, as well as in international exhibitions. Chiaroscuro Contemporary has represented her work on widely sourced hand-pounded barkcloth for over fifteen years and featured it in four solo exhibitions, including numerous group shows.

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