I am now developing a body of work centered around notions
of Wilderness: what it is both historically and presently. Is wilderness a
transcendent place of ‘other’- apart from our daily lives, or can it reside in
undramatic sites right in front of us- in our backyards, reclaimed city blocks,
or highway dividers? We live in a world forever altered by our human presence-
are we apart from this idea of Wilderness or are part of it?
The work I am creating is oil on canvas. I am
painting these pieces both out of a physical need to paint as well as
historical reference. Many of our notions of the landscape and the myth of
Wilderness come out of the western landscape painting tradition. Painting has
always been both a place for personal contemplation as well as a site for power
displays. It is a tradition which comes out of land ownership and religious
themes of paradise, hell, and mankind’s place in the natural world.
