Born in Eugene, Oregon, John currently teaches classes at the John Crawford Art Studio (part of SouthShore Regional Library) in Ruskin, FL. Last year he was "Director of Operations" at Centre Gallery (located at the University of South Florida's Tampa campus). He started "Tampa Bay and Beyond" in the spring of 2005 to provide an open forum to promote the activites of local artists and musicians. John's focus is to promote emerging galleries and artists in the Tampa Bay and surrounding areas. John graduated from USF in the spring of 2006 with a BFA in printmaking and a minor in electronic music.
John's current 2-dimensional work deals with implied actions in space and the power of the stark and raw. He takes a minimal approach to image making in which the viewer admires the psychological depth of the image as opposed to a photo-realistic quality. The obviousness of the syntax, artist's hand in the mark-making, evokes a universality of experience and purports to revitalize interest in life and contemplation.
John's current electronic media projects deal with using a very minimal amount of materials and actions to produce an installation intent on providing an abstract narrative environment in which to engage performance. These installations have been exploiting the notions of both public and private space, as well as the role and participation of the viewer. These concepts were realized in projects utilizing an abandoned walk-in cooler and an obscured storefront window. The recent performances have involved physical permutations, including wardrobe changes, animal transfiguration, and implied ageing though a minimal timeless environment.
John's recent electronic media projects have been done under the collective name avaacc, an acronym for audio visual abstract association cognition collective, working in conjunction with Kurt Piazza and Elena Vee.
John is also a founding member of the Tampa artist collective [5]art.
[5]art is comprised of a core group of local artists focused on nurturing both established and emerging local, national and international artists via exhibitions and events in a variety of venues. The [5]art collective promotes artists working in all different media and organizes exhibitions that engage the local community through the visual arts. More information on this collective can be found at www.five-art.com.