Campbell calls upon the languages of painting, photography, and film. An understanding and love of painting, both its past and present, lie at the root of Campbell’s painting – she cites Rembrandt, El Greco and Sargent as major influences, and also refers to the work of Cornell, Hockney, and Viola. Her work is photographic in the sense that the paintings frame isolated moments and flatten space. However, like an expert cinematographer, Campbell filters color, distorts perspective and places a distinctive lens over the world she portrays.

Having had four solo shows at L.A. Louver gallery, Campbell in each occasion successfully engages the audience with a wide variety of subjects. “Thin Skin” (2002) captures the tranquility and quotidian life of American suburbia, introducing audience to her luscious, painterly brushwork. Her next show “Crush” (2005) is imbued with mystery and drama, haunting imagery occupying the in-between realm of representational and abstraction, clear narration and nostalgic sublime. The vibrant colors and translucent washes, thick impasto and sweeping brushstrokes guide the audience through the memories of her childhood and adolescence. “Poltergeist” (2009) explores the often sentimentalized and disregarded significance of nostalgia– specifically a sense of homecoming and survival, according to the Greek and Old English origins of the word. “Romancing the Apocalypse” (2011) is a meditation on extremes, in terms of both nature and the man-made. Paintings depicting the brilliance of fireworks and horror of atomic bomb, radiance of young girls and the ephemeral light of rainbows. Yet again, Campbell’s handling of paint, sweeping brushstrokes and juxtaposition of vibrant and low-key colors tell a captivating translation of the energy involved in each subject.

In the coming year, Campbell will collaborate with Samantha Fields to present narrative paintings, drawings, collages, and sculptures in upcoming exhibition “Dreams of Another Time” (2016) at Cal State University Long Beach University Art Museum. The show also includes a 18-month, on-going project of time-based, improvisational “call and response” collaboration between the artists, as well as MFA graduate students from CSU Northridge, CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach. For more details, visit the exhibition website.