ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sean Crim is a Los Angeles based artist working with paint and light utilizing acrylic, ink, oil, neon and LED lights on canvas, mirror and plexiglass. He focuses on visualizing emotion through the color psychology, neural oscillations and space perception. He challenges the psychological self emotionally, mentally and physically expanding and exploring the inner self in the present moment. He creates continuous movement through light in his artwork resembling the constant change in emotion and the continual rotation of time and space. He pushes the boundary beyond his pieces of art to fill and cover space by painting with light through neon and LED, changing the color of rooms and creating the perception of more space within rooms through reflection of light and color. He explores the never-ending insights of emotion, what emotion is within the mind, body, soul and how it can be perceived, felt, and explored in all forms. His art explores emotional vulnerability, feeling, sharing and the psychological realm.
Born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1992, art was always a huge part of Sean’s life. Art was his form of therapeutic, creative expressionism, conveying his inner thoughts and feelings without explaining them in words. It created a positive escape from reality, freeing him from the stigmas and labels of society and allowing him to truly be his own self. In the fall of 2007, Sean took his art to the next level while attending Georgetown Preparatory School in Washington DC. His art focused on realism, more specifically on portraits of people who influenced and positively impacted his life. Throughout his high school career, Sean was honored with multiple awards for his work across the DC area. Upon graduation in 2011, he painted a detailed portrait of his grandfather who passed away the day after his birthday in 2010. Sean surprised his grandmother on graduation day with the painting, immediately bringing her to tears while she smiled ear to ear with pure joy. In this moment, Sean realized how his art connected with people’s emotions and feelings, altering their current state in a positive manor. The experience with his grandmother demonstrated how powerful art can be, how it can change people’s perspectives, and elicit positive, meaningful change. He continued his art at Wake Forest University, where he earned his BS in Finance and minor in Studio Art. His studies brought him back to his art foundation and a deeper understanding of where his art could go.
After graduating from Wake Forest in 2015, Sean took a job at HFF in commercial real estate in Atlanta. He left HFF in the fall of 2016 to help his mom, Judy, start her dessert company, Judy's Sweets & Treats. While helping start the dessert company, Sean received a commission painting. This moment was the rebirth of his art and it rekindled his passion. He finally felt true happiness again and was reminded of the life-changing aspects he could bring to himself and the people around him. Watching his mom pursue her dream, Judy’s Sweets & Treats, Sean realized that he too could pursue what he was passionate about. No matter the journey, everything always brought him back to the one thing he truly loves, art. Building his foundation, Sean began working primarily on commission pieces, creating a body of work, and bringing happiness to others.
Sean moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2017 to truly focus on his art and build his career. He started creating bodies of work that were focused around positive mental health and positive mental reinforcement. The pieces became an expression of his emotions and inner-self through memory and personal experiences. In November of 2017, Sean showcased his art in the Malibu Art Walk. The feedback and accolades he received pushed him to continue and expand his portfolio. After a trip to Napa Valley in January of 2018, Sean started a mini-series called the ‘Sensation of Wine’, illustrating the movement, emotions and energy of having wine. This was followed by his first actual series in the summer of 2018, ‘Perseverance’. Sean honed in on the ongoing theme of self-exploration, positive mental change, and inner-strength. The series consisted of bull skulls that represented one’s confidence and tenacity to overcome challenges and to achieve whatever you put your mind to. While working on ‘Perseverance’, he began his series, 'Animals, the Spirit Within', which exemplified similar inner emotions, self-perseverance and strength through the spirit, emotion and stance of animals. He finished this series in late fall of 2018 and showcased it at The Regent Cocktail Club in Miami for Art Basel 2018 Miami. Most recently, he completed a mini-series on dessert, 'Following your Happiness', in the winter of 2019. Exemplifying his abstract expressionist style, the series was a reflection on what reconnected him with art, his mom’s dessert company and finding true happiness. Sean’s newest pieces are non-objective abstraction as portrayed in his series ‘Into the Light’. The paintings focus on his inner emotions, intuition, personal growth, and ability to always find the light no matter how dark it becomes. In the fall of 2019, Sean showcased part of this series in a group show titled 'into the Light', based on his series, at The Whole 9 Gallery in Culver City, California. Currently, Sean dives deeper into non-objective abstraction with his newest series, Present + Positive, exemplifying an emotional, intuitive self through the power and strength of being in the moment. Sean further pushes the boundaries of light and movement within his newest series, Beauty in Chaos, through his utilization of neon and acrylic on canvas. He shows his work through group exhibitions at Art Unified on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, California, which he started showing at in the fall of 2020 and currently shows. Further, Sean's work is exhibited at Maddox Gallery in Los Angeles as well. His work was displayed in the group exhibition, Dysmorphia, at Maddox Gallery in July and August of 2021. His work was also shown in Maddox Gallery's fall group exhibition, Autumn Contemporary, and winter exhibition, Out To Lunch, in 2021 in the Los Angeles gallery. Sean's work was shown with Art Unified at the 2021 Art Market Hamptons, the 2022 LA Art Show, the 2022 Palm Beach Show and at SCOPE in Miami for the 2022 Art Basel Miami. In 2023, he has shown at the LA Art Show and Hampton's Art Fair with Art Unified. Sean's work was also shown in Jac Forbes Contemporary group show, Ordinary Objects, in May and June of 2023.
Sean’s work is being displayed across the US in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Washington DC and Atlanta as well as Madrid and Puerto Rico. Sean continues to bring awareness, connect, and have a greater impact through his focus on overall emotional, mental, physical and spiritual balance through positivity, personal change and growth and mental health. This is only the beginning as he continues to learn, grow and transform his passion for art.