uneasyWONDER
It’s not an exaggeration to state that the view from Pine Meadow Ranch is similar to living in a postcard, surrounded by the Three Sisters, Broken Top, Mt Washington and Black Butte. However, my arrival at the ranch wasn’t greeted by a of a rugged Western landscape but a smokey haze and a stark reminder of the region’s wildfires, and the increasing impact of climate change on the land and us. The work is an observational and emotional response to those environmental factors, and informed by the colors of the acrid air and silhouetted mountains—a study in desaturated hues. Hand cut and stenciled patterns of the Rocky Mountain Bee Plant signal resilience and hope. Split into four painted paper panels, screening stenciled with patterned Aspen leaves is laid over three of the panels, further obscuring the images. Embroidered “roots” dangle down from several of the three leaf Rocky Mountain Bee Plant patterns, and cut outs reveal mirrored and gold leafed papers. A fourth panel engages the far reaching gaze and unintentionally started out as broad gestural and textural marks (acrylic media loaded with silt from the Whychus Creek) that realized themselves into the Three Sisters; part of the Whychus’s route is stenciled and runs through the panel. The mirrored papers serve as a device and invitation for the reflection of self within the environmental context depicted and suggested. Exhibition installation will include full length mirrors.