This fall I am preparing for two shows, one is a group show in November and the other is a two person show in February. For both I have been thinking about themes that often appear in my work. Ideas about reciprocity in nature and the interconnected relations between all living beings. In the past I have done work with mirror imaging, well not exactly that, but playing with that idea, which can be seen in this piece, this one, and this one as well. I am fascinated by the life underground that we do not see.
In this new series I am following the same thread, but a little different, and seeing where it takes me.
When I was working on the painting above, and especially on the bottom part, I kept thinking about compost and rich soil teeming with life. And how the creative process can be so much like a compost heap. Tossing in the used up, spoiled, rotten, discarded things in, and with time and tending, it turns into life sustenance, deep, dark, and nutrient rich. Life into life.
The plant imagery I used is one I have played with for many years as it came from a nature exhibit I went to when we lived in Chicago. The exhibit was on prairie plants. I will always remember this one display that showed how long the roots systems of the prairie plants are. It was incredible. The extensive root networks help hold the soil in place, preventing erosion from wind and rain and more easily absorbs water when the downpours occur.
The bottom part of this piece contains the ghost print images on cloth that were the byproducts of some ecoprinting I did earlier this year. I always love the ghost prints more than the original print. I especially love them now that I have been experimenting with layering them with encaustic paint and pigment sticks.
I really do love mountains and hilly landscapes. But I will always have a love for the prairie. The vastness. where the horizon line meets the big sky. The diversity of life, above and below.