HYLAND
hen I first saw Constance Culpepper's lively,
colorful paintings, I thought of the early Andy Warhol, of the
latter's virtuoso draftsmanship underlying the quirky blotted
line. Culpepper's canvases celebrate "a fascination" with
the object world she beheld in her grandmother, Willie Dell's,
house: American quilts, handmade by Texan women in the
late [19th century], antique chairs and textiles, hand painted
Mexican furniture, Delft pottery, ceramic figurines, French
china, vintage glass bottles, and old family photographs, to
name but a few." These things, together with "variety of color,
patterning, layering, texture and subject matter" are visible in
the paintings, which mostly record delightful interior spaces,
particularly dining rooms, places of communal pleasure, yet
absent the human component. One senses from the vivid dec-
oration of these rooms the human spirit which created them.
W
Crazy Table | 36 x 48 | oil on canvas
