Client

Overview

The exquisite beauty and the unprecedented tribulations faced by coral reefs around the world today are the driving force for this 84-foot long (30 inches high) monumental work. Through the interplay of watercolors, oil paints, acrylic mediums, paper collage, and an assortment of plastic materials, Jill Krutick creates an immersive, three-dimensional viewer experience. Though the work is made up of 25 independent panels, all the panels are considered part of one artistic unit that offers a 360-degree lens into the underwater world.

More than just an eco-statement about the need to preserve this fragile eco-system, Coral Beliefs is a philosophy about connectivity and networking. Each panel is named a belief that Krutick has about life. The center of the installation is called Fury and the final panel is called Elation, giving a sense of the range of feelings that are presented.

Goals

Coral Beliefs was a site specific piece made for the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum main gallery. The piece was designed to align with the museum's mission of art and nature and "fit" around the perimeter of the large gallery. While each panel was 30 x 40", the center panel was customized to fit the long gallery wall. The corners were also designed to maximize the impact and feel like a continuous work of art. This artwork can be displayed in multiple formations and is made to be in “around,” where each of the pieces flows into another and the first piece and last piece “connect” to each other.

Process

This was a project by artist Jill Krutick with the assistance of Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum Executive Director, Bryan Knicely, who spent several months creating "Coral Beliefs." At the end of each studio day (which went on for months), I developed a work flow that included documenting the development of each of the panels while simultaneously seeing how each of the pieces fit into the larger puzzle.

The process would begin with an i-phone photograph of each of the panels that I worked on that day. I edited each photo with Lightroom Classic and then uploaded the photo into InDesign for closer examination. I added the images to a rendering of the gallery and also to a “pairs” file that looked at groups of panels close-up to see if the transition from panel to panel was smooth. After all that, I printed and laminated the scaled images and put them into my 3D model to get a sense of the project’s overall perspective.

This process helped inform the next day’s studio activities and gave me a close up and far away sense as to the overall balance of the color and texture in the piece. My goal was to have a wide variety of textures, colors and shapes that worked as an overall artistic statement while simultaneously drawing folks in to enjoy the details.

Additional Information

"Coral Beliefs'' takes my discovery to a much higher level. Each panel is named for one of the 25 “beliefs” I imagine when creating my story about coral reefs. I not only try to portray the elation and poetry I feel and see when exploring the reef, but also the harsh reality of the suffocating, bleaching and pollution that is destroying it. The center of the piece is like a “Big Bang” or whirlwind of debris that explodes and ultimately gives way to a quest for a harmonious, labyrinth of enchantment. Coral reefs have become the language in which I communicate not only as an artist but as an artist/gallerist entrepreneur. Over the past couple of years, I have opened my studio space to other artists, recognizing the limitations of the traditional gallery model. It is through my developing sense of inclusion and collaboration that I have grown my network of artists, expanded my global reach, and continued on the path of artistic discovery.