Like many self-taught artists Craig Norton makes work of remarkable directness. Unlike many self-taught artists Norton’s ideas arrive channeled through his incredibly fine skills as a draftsman, made more uncanny by the fact that he has had no training of any kind and his sole drawing implements are 29 cents Bic pens. Norton renders photorealistic portraits of his subjects, pairing each of his drawn heads to abbreviated and collaged figures, resulting in fantastically disjointed images. Norton did not attend any art school or college.
Norton’s work often focuses on issues of social justice and man’s inhumanity toward man; his early work has included large series based on the genocide in Rwanda and the Holocaust, among others. As an extremely spiritual and compassionate individual, he devotes his time to help others beside creating artwork and spending time with his family. His most recent body of work conveys the feeling of emptiness and uneasiness of the elder that has become invisible to the society, and attempts to display the inability of the society to deal with tough situations and people that require patience and love.
Norton creates art about real life that is happening around us all whether we like it or not. He strongly believes that it it his life calling to alert people and wake them out of their sleep to realities of the world. He states, “Good, bad, offensive, emotional, uncomfortable and challenging. These the things I am not afraid show in my artwork.”
He currently lives in Perry, Missouri, with his wife and his six children.
Purchase a copy of Craig Norton catalog Craig Norton: Trying To Change The World One Drawing At A Time
Rondell
Terror
Visiting Grandma - Detail View
Nun
Olivia
Man with Red Sweater
Preacher
All Business
My Invisible Drawing
Hallelujah
Red Scarf
Shopper
Quiet Man
Sad Man