Crystalle Lacouture

A central interest in the artwork of Crystalle Lacouture is how to make an abstract “portrait”. Much of her work captures the essence of a person by recreating images of textiles or clothing; little descriptive scraps that work as compact memory files. She explores how we mentally catalog our lives over time by compressing and editing experiences into symbolic snapshots that tell us the conditions of a moment at a glance. Lacouture received her BFA in Painting/Printmaking from Skidmore College in 2000, where she received the Pamela Weidenman Excellence in Printmaking Award. Crystalle was a longtime assistant to activist artists Nancy Spero and Leon Golub and a printmaker and Resident Key Holder at the Lower East Side Printshop. She has attended residencies at Surf Point Foundation, Vermont Studio Center, the Vanguard Mastheads, the Contemporary Artist Center, and Room 83 Spring. Her work is in the collections of Fidelity, the Hammond Museum, and Skidmore College. Currently based in Boston and North Adams, MA, Lacouture exhibits her work throughout New England and New York and is represented by Beth Kantrowitz from BK Projects and Drive-By Gallery.