A Dual Exhibition with Ronald T. Crawford & Peter McFarlane
Friday, May 16 | 5pm–9pm
On display through to the end of the month.
Steffich Fine Art, 101-149 Fulford Ganges Rd, Salt Spring Island
Step inside AboutTime—a thought-provoking art event featuring the textural worlds of Ronald T. Crawford and the electrified terrains of Peter McFarlane.
This dynamic duo of long-time friends brings together two complementary masculine creative forces in an evening of material metamorphosis and metaphoric might.
Drawing from the tides of his Salt Spring stonework and decades of fine art practice. His richly layered canvases echo weathered coastlines, the slow grind of erosion, and the fleeting poetry of light at day’s end. Plaster, wood, nails, and paint collide in textured dialogues, evoking how the sun’s last rays mirror off beach pools—reminding us that what’s above, is also below. AboutTime, for Crawford, is not just a time of day—it’s a metaphor for change, ageing, and reflection.
He doesn’t paint on circuit boards—he resurrects them. In a blaze of solder, wire, and concept, he transforms tech’s discarded skeletons into glowing nightscapes, mythic landscapes, and electric dreams. These pieces pulse with commentary on obsolescence, connectivity, and the ghost-in-the-machine poetry of modern life. Both sculpture and signal, his art invites us to see not what has been lost, but what can still be lit anew.
These circuit board paintings arose from my job as a computer sales consultant back in the early 1990’s; I was appalled at the computer’s speed of redundancy and was determined to extend its life. My son was born around that time and after I’d put him to bed, I would head to the art studio and paint the nightscape because that was the landscape I saw out the window. Working late into the night, I could always place myself as one of the “ignited” lights in the painting, thus creating a landscape that appealed to the subjective and objective view.
After much trial and error, I discovered that re-igniting the circuits with a soldering gun and adding wires and paint, I was able to get closer to that visceral ‘electric’ light experience in a way that traditional paint on gessoed canvas did not allow. Over time, I created traffic, lightning and other features that played with the metaphors associated with circuit boards and power.
To me, the circuit board is the perfect contemporary ‘canvas' or ‘platform’. It is such an integral part of the global village, being contained in so many of our consumer goods that we rely upon to stay ‘connected' or ‘consumed'. Its similarity of geography and architecture to urban topography, as well as its correlation to the circuitry of the mind, both serve to enhance its intrinsic metaphoric value. And while I’m an avid recycler, this work is more about a poetic re-contextualizing of object and idea, of creating delicate objects out of these obsolete, but formerly cutting-edge technologies.
Together, Ronald and Peter remind us: time isn’t linear—it loops, soldered and weather-worn, cycling through memory, matter, and metaphor.
Join us at the opening May 16th from 5 to 9pm for an evening of evocative textures, charged ideas, good company, and time... well spent. Complimentary refreshments, spirited conversation, and a chance to meet both artists await.
