Prue Crome’s large colour field paintings are inspired by the atmospherics of light to expand and contract space.
Philosophically Crome’s thoughts reside around metaphysical concerns of transience and the ephemerality of each moment. Being in the moment, with no cultural construct and non-derivative, is central to her work, to enable the viewer to have a direct sensory experience rather than a cerebral one. Whilst studying for her MFA she became enthralled with space and light and investigating the conditions that alter one’s perception, with a focus on immersive installations. The whole-body experience is where her passion lies, hence the scale of her works.
Light is her primary focus and colour is used to shift the balance and scale to create immersive abstract colour fields. Colour choice and placement are intuitive and sometimes influenced by sunsets and storm events witnessed from her hilltop in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne. The layering of pigments attempts to capture the allusive nature of light and depth perception on a thin surface. She uses oils for their luminous and lustrous qualities and their slow drying allows for blending and blurring of the layers. Gestural marks are minimised though the energy of blending is imbedded in the works.
