Badlands
2012-Present
I've always had an interest in landscapes, both aesthetically and conceptually. It is the physical landscape of the American West that perhaps most defines what it stereotypically means to be an American. Obviously, the extreme physicality of this region is without equal and it is therefore an idyllic personification of our collective consciousness. It reflects an individualist ideal of strength, perseverance and free will. Partially because of this awe-inspiring beauty it also functions as a convenient distraction from the historical and contemporary realities of this country.
In John Gast’s painting American Progress, Columbia, a personification of the United States, leads "civilization" westward with American settlers, stringing telegraph wire as she sweeps west. This allegorical representation of modernization evokes a sense of pride and feels like a call to arms for expansion. Directly linked to the principles of American Exceptionalism, Manifest Destiny led to an unprecedented history of violence and brutality that was conveniently romanticized or entirely forgotten when examining the films of John Ford or paintings of the Hudson River School.
In my work, I'm aiming to create a more brutal understanding of landscape. I approach the surfaces like topographic maps and employ both traditional and non-traditional materials within a limited palette. The works in this series are very much rooted in process and the additive and reductive practices at play mimic the way in which we have used and abused our landscapes in pursuit of profit. My primary goal is to replace the mythic qualities of landscape painting with isolation, loss, and fear.
