California Atmosphere: by Erin Lee Gafill

California Atmosphere, by Erin Lee Gafill
"I paint what I see, and what I cannot see. My work explores the transcendent grandeur of the natural world, abstracting from light, mass, and form in colorful washes of oil paint. These paintings are a reverent response to the interplay of Land, Sea, and Sky on the California coast. I work intuitively, immersing myself in the physicality of the paint, allowing washes of color to drip, blend, spatter, and dissolve.  As paint flows, ideas emerge.  The act of painting becomes a kind of “call and response” with the canvas itself. Each painting is an adventure and a discovery."
- ERIN LEE GAFILL
Born in Big Sur, CA in 1963, Erin Lee Gafill is an award-winning painter from a storied California family, amongst whom are the founders of Carmel by the Sea and Napenthe Restaurant in Big Sur. Her work has recently been featured in two major museum exhibitions; at the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka, CA in 2022, and at the Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA in 2021.
 
Erin Lee Gafill’s fascination with the atmospheric light and color of the California Coast is explored here in work that draws from observation, but ultimately relies on a kind of intuitive sense and ecstatic expression. Thin layers of monochrome paint dissolve one over another in some tonal pieces, while others retain exuberant technicolor drips conveying process and discovery.
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