STILL LIFE: documentation
STILL LIFE: Artist Statement
Out on the trail I am consumed by my surroundings. My ears tune in to the trickling water making its way downstream and the quaking aspen leaves as a breeze passes through. I carefully choose my path around ancient moss-clad boulders, a carpet of pine needles cushioning each step. I gaze out to a sea of trees, most holding the line and some in a series of collapse as they make their way back to the earth to begin again. In the forest I am both a visitor and kindred spirit, deeply rooted in the landscape.
This series of work is a reflection of my deep reverence for nature and my desire to stay connected to it; to wrap my head around our evolving relationship with the natural world. The O’Sullivan Art Gallery at Regis, which I recently learned was once the chapel for the school, indeed has a spiritual presence about it. This sanctuary seemed the perfect backdrop to create a dialog about our fundamental relationship with nature and to portray ourselves in the face of a changing landscape.
As deforestation, industrialization and consumption accelerate climate change, the animal kingdom, our animal kingdom, encounters a host of challenges. Many of us feel helpless that the changes coming are out of our control. Our faces can be seen in the eyes of these forest creatures as we watch at a distance. We witness a landscape removed, a landscape in turmoil, a memory of what once was and a fear of what might become.
And while there is so much stress and grief over these losses, the truly human aspect of the situation is our optimism that nature can be saved, that WE can be saved. The bluebird is a symbol for hope and renewal. Like the blank pages of a coloring book, what often seems black and white can be reimagined and filled again with color and life.
Photo credit: Wes Magyar, WM Artist Services