Air Pollution

13 in x 21 in,

1/26

A valued colleague at work (Sophie Wells) knew that I was interested in painting "air" as part of the "Natural Elements" series.  She challenged me to paint a picture of air pollution, which at once I viewed as ridiculous (who would want an ugly painting of pollution on their wall?) but also as a challenge.  Could pollution ever be viewed as interesting?  I decided to lay down a textured background of modelling paste in wave-like repetitive forms that reminded me of air movement.  I overlaid very pastel shades of yellow, orange and green (thinking of some colors that smog might have in it), then applied diluted aluminum grit and iron oxide flakes very, building them up in layers to suggest particulate matter suspended in air.​ The result is a painting that reads as a quiet, atmospheric field of movement drifting across a pale, polluted sky.  The combination of gentle waveforms with dirty, granular deposits suggests natural systems overlaid with the slow accumulation of human-made residue.​ Viewed up close, the granular details overwhelm, but at a distance, the canvas resolves into a tranquil, snowy field, underscoring how environmental damage can be both omnipresent and easily overlooked.