By Allison Hersh
Carl M. Crawford carefully cuts an arc-shaped fragment out of a magazine with an X-Acto knife, gently rubs the emerald green shape on a glue stick and firmly presses the cut out form with his left thumb to complete the dancer’s left leg in his latest composition.
This Columbia, S.C. artist pioneered a technique he calls “collage illusion,” creating elaborate mixed media paintings on glass without using a single stroke of paint. A self-taught artist, Crawford has been inspired by African-American artists like Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence.