Courtney Howell

Courtney Howell is a freelance artist based in Chicago. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art. She continues to be involved in group shows, artist co-ops and is constantly trying to fine-tune her own practice. Courtney works with an abundance of \"devalued materials\" vintage book pages, found objects, and discarded threads. She likes to eliminate the aspects of a formal structure in exchange for a colorful and textured field. When Courtney paints, she does not plan out how the work will be; things emanate that she is not entirely in control of. Her paintings are exemplifications of an impulse; it is as if her semi-conscious thoughts manifest themselves into a mix between abstraction and form on the canvas. The work implodes multiple disjointed narratives. She believes that art making is a tool for processing life; thoughts, stimulation, the unknown. Her monstrous and endearing ink and watercolor paintings are like ethereal voyages into the secret world of the subconscious. Painting is Courtney\'s way of revealing her internal landscape and inner childlike spirit, the process being an obscure transmutation of lead into gold.