Graceann Warn
Graceann Warn’s academic background is in urban design and classical archaeology. In 1985 she decided to take a leap of faith and become a full time artist. She started out as an oil painter but throughout the 1990’s became best known for her assemblages. In 2000, a 16 month long commission to design sets for a major opera production led to a shift in medium and scale in her studio work. Since that time she has primarily been painting on wood panels using oils and encaustic. The present work reflects the structural logic of her architectural beginnings as well as her abiding interest in archaeology and science. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is in the collections of Yale University, Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY, US Embassies in Nairobi, Sarajevo and Nepal, Pew Charitable Trusts and many others.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Inspiration It’s everywhere. It’s a wall, or a word. It’s in books. It’s the entire city of Rome. It’s remembering a morning row on the Huron River. Inspiration is whatever I am obsessed with at any given time. A subject I return to again and again is science, especially as it relates to space. I am a child of the 60’s and the absolute wonder and awe of space exploration has never left me. I am also inspired by architecture and archaeology and these frequently drive the look of my paintings. I love the look and mythology associated with broken down buildings, abandoned factories, forgotten places.
Inspiration to Physical Form I most often begin with a word, phrase or a scientific or mathematical concept in my head. I have lists of these things on my studio wall or in sketchbooks. I am constantly listening and reading, looking for the spark from my engagement with a word or two. I imagine what this word, etc. “looks like” , what mood it evokes for me, and begin by laying down color onto a substrate to start the painting process. Frequently the painting takes shape as I work it. It is rare that I know exactly what a piece will look like before I begin therefore it’s a very active, conscious process that evolves over the time I am working.