Part of the Vanishing Worlds virtual gallery.
Environmental issues became important to me in the 1990’s while traveling in the Pacific Northwest. I remember one day, in particular, my first day of a two-week trip there. On a hike up to Clear Peak West, the panorama was one of massive clear-cuts with Mt. Rainier looming in the distance. Along roads going north, there were wide borders of tall pines, camouflaging a treeless landscape beyond. It was devastating to see this degradation and impossible to forget.
I traveled to the Caribbean and to South India last year. I asked the local nature guides what the current environmental issues were. The problems in the Caribbean and in South India were the same as ours; the issues were habitat loss, over-development and abusive land practices. When I arrived home, I learned that a 9000 square foot house was being built adjacent to mine and that a local pond was polluted with deck stain that had been dumped into a drainage outlet more than five miles away.
Is there hope for the land? In the remote areas of the wilderness that I have explored, there are often signs of trouble. In my work as an artist, I continue to bring attention to the environment, sometimes to a sense of well-being that the natural world offers, but more often, to conflicts that have evolved between man and nature.
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Tower of Extinction
Mixed Media 63″ x 12″ x 13″ Courtesy of the Artist $1,500
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Study for Land Use
Mixed media with Sawblades 12 3/8″ x 42 1/2″ Courtesy of Artist $700 |
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Our Town
Mixed Media 21″ x 15″ Courtesy of the Artist $400 |
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Other Forest Service Routes Mixed Media 42″ x 31″ Courtesy of the Artist $500 |
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Goodbye Lot 6402
Mixed Media 22″ x 26″ x 25″ Courtesy of the Artist $1,500 |
