Urban Forest is a collection of paintings, altered photographs and small amorphous relief sculptures that were created as a response to leaving the comfort of the city and and experiencing the altering affects of being in the forest.
The forest is a dycotomy of experiences; freedom and fear, spotlit fragments and cavernous darks , convoluted winds and soft silences.. The trees collide with the sky, umbrella protection obscuring the skyline of the cityscape. The layers of urban living are shed as the drone of the city dims and the forest begins to come alive. All the wildlife of the woods, the insects, birds and animals are invisible eyes behind the ever thickening woods.
My forest painings are a psychological state: frenetic, visceral and pulsating. The elements in the painting Urban Forest, conflict with one another. The fragments of the urban environment hover in front of the doorway to the forest.
Painting tools are urban throw aways ; pieces of plastic. Acrylic paint is a fossil fuel, unrenewable, synthetic and florescent medium. My choice of medium to paint with as an attempt to reconcile the conflict between manmade and the immunity of nature.
The keepers of the forest are a series of small amorphic acrylic painted cut wood pieces inspired by the imaginings of the sprites of the woods. They are prototypes for public sculptures similar to works created by the French-American artist, Niki de Saint Phalle.
“The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.” John Muir
