Gaia
Mixed media
12″ x 12″ x 2″
$600
2019
This body of work is about global warming and its unfolding impacts. The recent mega fires and floods in California made me realize that the issue of global warming is personal for my family and community.
My practice is rooted in the Process Art movement. I begin by painting on paper or canvas. I then adhere fabric, thread and other material to the first layer. Following, I cover and paste a second sheet of paper on top. Next, I paint and sand that compound surface and continue to manipulate the distressed surface. I frequently tear away segments, add and collage rust, graphite, fabric and paper, window screens, and plastic sheet, sand, as well as paint on top. I often repeat this process of multi-layering and sanding several times. Some of my pieces are combinations of as many as ten distinct layers.
The rigorous process of tearing finished paintings, adding and rebuilding layers of unlikely materials, in order to merge them into new and coherent images, metaphorically alludes to the power play throughout history. It is about forces that tear the fabric of our societies, and the creation of new reality from the old fragments. It invokes the reexamination of cultural legacies and historical events and their weight on the present.
At this moment in history, we are already witnessing the effects of global warming. Our world will be irrevocably changed by the collapse of ecological systems, rise of sea levels, and changes of weather and wind patterns world-wide. Tragically, climate change will devastate the lives of millions of people around the world and will bring a mass wave of extinctions. Natural disasters, wars over scarce resources, mass migrations, and worsening inequality are in store for us.
It is hard to come to terms with the knowledge that the world as we know it is changing. The same way I expect days to follow nights, I have always expected
that weather patterns will be predictable and will support the existence of humans, flora and fauna. The lives of my children and future generations will be very different with the turbulence vanishing of familiar landscapes, communities and species.
