Crash by Calie Durant

Acrylic on canvas
36" h x 48" w - unframed

Calie Durant is an abstract painter whose work bridges a lifelong dedication to visual communication with a sustained commitment to a practice shaped through layered inquiry and revision. She studied graphic design in art school before earning her BFA with a major in painting. Raised in Hawai‘i, she was drawn early to the relationships between color, form, and atmosphere, sensitivities that would later inform both her design career and her studio practice.

Before turning fully toward painting, Calie worked in branding and advertising as an art director, designer, and strategist in New York and San Francisco. She led creative teams and crafted cohesive visual systems across web, mobile, and print. During this time, she partnered with renowned clients including Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Ogilvy & Mather, and Landor Associates. This background refined her approach to composition, structure, and visual clarity, elements that now underpin the disciplined yet expansive nature of her abstract work.

In 2021, Calie moved back to O‘ahu with her husband and two children. She now paints from her home studio in Honolulu, where a sense of rhythm, openness, and spatial awareness informs the ongoing evolution of her practice.

Crash captures the force and movement of breaking water, focusing on the moment when a wave gathers energy, breaks open, and transforms. Sweeping forms and layered textures evoke the movement of water as it builds toward the moment of impact and release.

While the work is rooted in the energy of crashing water, it also reflects the moments in life when we encounter forces beyond our control. The layered marks capture both the tension of building momentum and the release that comes with surrendering to it. Crash speaks to the unexpected points of impact that can interrupt our path, reminding us that change can be both disruptive and transformative. Like the ocean, the painting holds movement, force, and release within a constantly shifting surface.  - Calie Durant