I create intuitive, process-driven abstract paintings that hover on the edge of becoming, where color, shape, and atmosphere begin to take form and then dissolve. My work is as much about what is seen as what is not. Using acrylic paint, ink, charcoal and other mixed media, I build the surface with layers. These layers hold what’s revealed and what stays hidden.
I think of them as similar to how we move through our own lives. Emotions surface and fade. Memories come into focus and then slip away. Parts of ourselves are shared openly, while others remain just beneath the surface. That push and pull is at the core of what I’m exploring.
Painting this way becomes a form of reflection. Each layer records a moment, a mood, a shift. The final piece isn’t about a fixed image, but about that ongoing process of change, growth, and becoming. It arrives at a place that is felt more than fully defined.
Artist Statement
BIO
Crystal MacLean was born in New York City and now lives and works in South Florida. In 2018, while living in Connecticut, she returned to her first love, painting, and began building a dedicated studio practice.
Immersing herself in the study of art history, materials, and design, she continued her training under a variety of teachers while actively exhibiting her work. During this time, she became involved with several arts organizations, including the Connecticut Women's Art Association.
Now an award-winning artist, MacLean’s work has been exhibited in juried and group exhibitions and is held in private collections along the East Coast, from Massachusetts to Florida.
Exhibitions
Juried Group Exhibitions:
2024 Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT - Expanding Visions Juried Exhibition
2024 Essex Art Association, Essex, CT - Spring Juried Exhibition
2024 Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT - Four Acts - Purely Abstract Juried Exhibition
2024 Hygienic Art Gallery, New London, CT - The Crossing Annual Juried Show
2024 Connecticut Women Artists Association Members Juried Show - Artspace Hartford Gallery
2023 Madison Art Association, Madison, CT - 48th Annual Juried Exhibition
2023 Greenwich Art Society, Greenwich, CT - Flinn Gallery Summer Exhibit "Reviving Inner Rhythms”. Juror: Clare Davies, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
2023 Essex Art Association, Essex, CT - The Heat is On Summer Exhibition
2023 Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT - 3 paintings accepted in the Expanding Visions Exhibition
2023 Waterford Historical Society, Waterford, CT - Art in Waterford - Past, Present, Future Exhibition
2023 Essex Art Association, Essex, CT - Blue Skies Smiling at Me Exhibition
2023 Hygienic Art Gallery, New London, CT – 3 paintings accepted in The Crossing Exhibition
2022 Connecticut Women Artists Annual National Juried Exhibition
2022 Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT - True Blue Exhibition
2022 Essex Art Association, Essex, CT – Inner Visions Exhibition
2022 Madison Art Society, Madison, CT – MAS 47th Annual Jury Show
2022 Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT – 3 paintings accepted in Expanding Visions Exhibition
2022 Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT – 2 paintings accepted in Four Acts: Black and White Exhibition
2022 Hygienic Art Gallery, New London, CT – 2 paintings accepted in The Crossing Exhibition
2021 Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT – 3 paintings accepted in Expanding Visions Exhibition
2021 Hygienic Art Gallery, New London, CT - The Crossing Exhibition
2020 Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT - Yin-Yang Exhibition
Group Exhibitions:
2024 Essex Art Association, Essex, CT - Spring Open Show
2024 Mystic Museum of Art, Mystic, CT - Members’ Exhibition
2023 Essex Art Association, Essex CT - Opposites Attract Open Show. Winner, Best of Show
2023 Essex Art Association, Essex, CT - By the Beautiful Sea Open Show
2021 Connecticut Academy of Fine Art+ Members Show
Affiliations:
Associate Member, Lyme Art Association 2020-2024
Elected Member, Essex Art Association 2020-2024
Member, Connecticut Women Artists 2021-2024
Member, Clinton Art Society 2023
Member, Greenwich Art Society 2022-2024