Landscape Piece

Renewed
Mixed Media: Acrylic paint, newspaper, leaves, tree branches and roots on plywood
2.5 ft x 3.5 ft

With the exception of the paint all materials in the piece were found objects in the environment. Newspaper clippings from the business section along with dead plant material were adhered to a weathered piece of plywood from an abandoned lot. Along with the construction of these materials are loose brushstrokes of abstracted forms that work as symbols of human relationship with the landscape. The idea to include found objects came from early Rauschenberg "Combines."

The concept behind this piece was to depict ways in which people leave their mark to claim and use land. The plywood and abstracted post and lintel form reference the use of natural materials to function as shelter from other natural elements. An abstracted flag in reds symbolize how societies claim territory over each other. Newspaper clippings from the business section refer to how natural resources lead to the trading of wealth and the plant material refers to how the land eventually reclaims everything through time.