My latest series is about processing the themes I’ve worked with as a landscape painter over time. My best ideas about the experience of being in nature have usually been conceived in a temperature controlled environment under florescence lights. I tried to capture how paintings travel along with me as I move through spaces.
Each work is a combination of art materials on watercolor paper. The works measure 11” by 17”, vertically. I tend to gravitate to tall landscapes. The layout lets me stack styles and imagery on top of each other easier than if I could with a typical horizontal composition.
Textile patterns have become a common theme in my work lately and can be seen distinctly in this series. The painting on the right started by collaging images of myself as a kid wearing bright pink. I floated the figures throughout the landscape and matched the color to the shade used to stake out open-spaces for construction. Growing up in the suburbs I have distinct memories of seeing the woods in the neighborhood transformed into homes. I worked with this concept a lot during art-school. Placing myself as the markers for clearcut is an attempt to place my own footprint on the land in this memory.
I love each of these pieces and I love how they work together as a series. I have really struggled to come up with a title for them though. Any suggestions?