Ersilia Crawford..opere...

Ersilia Z. Crawford


I was born in Bari, Italy in 1933. I started painting as a young girl in Naples in the 40’s. In 1949, with my sisters and mother, I joined my father in New York. In the 50’s and 60’s I painted with William Baziotes, Robert Motherwell, Raymond Parker and many others. The influence of this experience at Hunter College continues to be present in my work.
An early marriage brought me to Liberia, West Africa where I lived for seven years. My marriage dissolved and I returned to NY. Here, as a single mother I taught in a public New York City Junior High School and painted as much as possible. Remarried and finally retired, I made a home in Umbria, Italy, where I paint from May to August.
Africa is in my heart with its light and its life, where my soul remembers my human beginnings. Italy is the place I feel whole. New York is where I gather the energy deepened by the vision of peoples from everywhere.
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