North & South: August 29th – September 9th 2018
Reception: Thursday August 30th 2018
Reception: Thursday August 30th 2018
Artist’s Statement: North & South
I have been painting wild landscapes for several years. I visited both North and South environments at different times, and was struck by their commonality; water inaccesible because of extreme temperature: ice or drought.
North: The area around Algonquin Park in Ontario is one which I have visited in several seasons over many years. Winter there is severely beautiful. The Oxtongue River and lake ice over and become impenetrable. Signs of aquatic life are absent, sealed off, iced over because of the extreme cold.
The North images have underpaintings of pale pink or orange tones which influence the cool winter colours. The snow and sky, especially, are transformed by the warm ground underneath.
South: When I visited California, the two mountain ranges I photographed and then painted were in a five year drought. Driving in in heat over 40 degrees C., the road sign for the mountains read “Los Diablos” (The Devil’s Mountains); how apt! The foothills and mountains rose as arid sculptures into the sky, with little moisture or animal life. The landscape seemed eerie and starkly beautiful.
The South images are painted thinly to evoke the dry, astringent landscape. The cool blue and violet underpainting is allowed to show through in some areas, to contrast with the hot dusty yellow, ochre and brown mountains. The cool blue sky also acts as a foil to the hot mountains.
Extremes in temperature, fluctuating rainfall and changes in established weather patterns characterize climate instability and climate change. There is austere beauty in both North and South landscapes, but a warning as well.