Camilla Cowman
Artist Statement
For the past decade, I have been interested in the contemplation of pattern and what it can give me. My studies with Thomas Nozkowski allowed me to build patterns slowly and to let them accumulate, as he does. My fascination with Keith Haring lies in the shock of his contrasts of light and dark and use of complex curves – much like the 'molas' I admire and collect.
My interests and influences are more than just the jumpy entertainment for the eye. The subtle spatial relations in plaids and geometric designs, color interactions that overlap and slow down the jumps that might occur between light and dark, and the surprises learned from outsider art all interest me.
My painting and printmaking inform one another, and I alternate between the two. I enjoy each process and the contrasts between them keep my mind amusingly engaged.
- Camilla Cowan, 2013
Camilla Cowan is an abstract painter and printmaker in Dallas.
A Tyler native, Ms. Cowan received her BFA in journalism from SMU in 1972 and worked for 25 years in the newspaper business, most recently at The Dallas Morning News. She left the News in 2001 and returned to SMU to take undergraduate classes in studio art – painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking.
She has participated in shows at the Mercantile Coffee House, Hawn Gallery of SMU, McKinney Avenue Contemporary and Flatbed Press in Austin. Her next show will be at the Magnolia Theater Nov. 21, 2013. She is represented by Ro2 Art.
She is inspired by pattern, geometric design, color and particularly the woven molas made by the Kuna Indians of Panama. She is currently working with linoleum printing.
