Collection: Christine Crockett

Christine Crockett's paintings explore the attempt to capture spirit through the language of imperfect mathematics. Geometry, diagrams, maps, blueprints, and grids stimulate her imagination in much the same way that poetry does. Within each work, lines describe, connect, and generate meaning inside a contained universe of color and form. By merging elements of expressionism and minimalism, she pursues a balance between emotional exuberance and logical restraint. This dynamic tension informs both subject and process.

The Greek word palimpsest—translated as “again, I scrape”—is central to her practice. In antiquity, mathematical texts inscribed on papyrus or wax tablets were often pumiced down and repurposed for religious writings centuries later. This act of historical layering resonates in her method. Christine works on paper or birch panels prepared with rough applications of plaster and pigment, over which she builds layers of oil paint and cold wax. These are sanded, carved, and stained, revealing a complex, map-like substrata. The moment when these underlying histories surface and whisper through the present image is, for her, the essence of a palimpsest.