Resa Blatman: My work of the last eight years speaks to a warming planet, invasive plant and animal species, and rising tides and their effect on and transformation of our landscape and natural resources. To reflect this concept visually, some of the artworks’ subjects and surfaces are layered with laser-cut forms that mimic coral, invasive plants, seaweed, and flora. In the paintings, there are cold weather animals trying to survive in hot, swampy environments, and walls of ocean water swallowing the landscape. The rectangular shaped paintings reflect this tragic reality through a narrative of dramatic skies, invasive plants, and anxious, yet lovingly painting birds.
There’s a physicality to the installation work in the way it juts forth from the wall, creating a metaphorical sound like the rapturous violence of giant waves crashing into a calving glacier. We are living in uncertain times — a growing ‘water world’ with more droughts and dwindling fresh drinking water, as our need for it arises. My work inhabits the terrain between the poetry of art and nature, and the future of climate dystopia.
Title: Drenched and Overgrown (with details). Date: 2016 & 2017. Materials: Oil and Latex paint on hand- and laser-cut Mylar, PETG, and Lexan; plastic flora; oil on paper. Dimensions: site specific: approximately 324w x 72h x 10d inches. Credit: Resa Blatman.
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