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Art

Figures Flow Along Swirling Streams of Color in Samantha Keely Smith’s Vibrant Abstract Landscapes

In vibrant oil paintings evocative of roiling oceans or atmospheric vistas, Samantha Keely Smith relies on confident, swift strokes to guide the composition. Hovering between abstraction and depictions of landscapes (previously), tonal contrasts and complementary colors emphasize dramatic movements suggestive of crashing waves or storms. “All of my work explores the idea that the line between our conscious and unconscious (experiences) is often blurry and that occasionally we are able the straddle both sides at once,” she tells Colossal.

Smith’s recent work has evolved into a looser, more freeform style that has taught her the value of experimentation or going with the flow. “Most importantly, I have given myself permission to completely fail occasionally and not feel bad about it,” she says. “I will sometimes pull a canvas off the stretcher and throw it away. In the past, I would fight to the bitter end to try to save something that just wasn’t working, which was ultimately a waste of my time and effort.”

 

Along with the more relaxed and confident approach, Smith now incorporates figures in her works. As an extension of her ongoing series Imagined Landscapes, she explores themes relating to presence and the subconscious in the form of bodies floating along a current that appear partially submerged. “Like a radio station coming in and out of tune, they exist as much in our reality as they do in that ‘other’ world,” she says, sharing that the addition of figures her pieces tapped into her own and loved ones’ health challenges.

Smith examines the emotional and mental toll of caring for her parents, who both suffered from prolonged illnesses. Now 54, she explores the fuzzy state between consciousness and “going under,” reflecting on being hospitalized for four months with a life-threatening illness at age 21. The painful experience instilled an appreciation for the fragility of life and the immense capacity humans have to feel hope. “The existential and the personal are intertwined in my work,” she says. “I believe that through art, we have the opportunity to accentuate our commonalities and to bring people together by sharing these personal experiences that are, at the same time, universal experiences.”

Find more of Smith’s work on her website, and follow updates on Instagram.

 

Art

In Monica Rohan’s ‘Disappearing Act,’ Free-Floating Fabrics Disguise Landscapes Under Threat

Draped over invisible clotheslines, vintage fabrics conceal seaside vistas, meadows teeming with dried grasses, and craggy walls of stone in Monica Rohan’s latest works. The artist (previously) renders the vast landscapes of her native Australia in a new series of oil paintings as part of Disappearing Act, her solo show on view later this month at Jan Murphy Gallery in Fortitude Valley, Queensland.

Known for her deft portrayals of pattern and the dimensions of folded textiles, Rohan continues to contrast domestic, human-made material with more organic surroundings. In this series, disembodied limbs draw back the suspended curtains, slowly uncovering the otherwise concealed landscapes. Rohan refers to these small reveals as “portals to seemingly idyllic environments beyond” that accentuate the way paintings—and art, more broadly—intervene in how we experience our surroundings.

The stage-like nature of the paintings draws connections between the limited duration of theatrical performances and the impending losses caused by the climate crisis as they channel “feelings of anxiety and concern toward landscapes under threat,” the artist says. Each is serene with calm waters, sunny skies, and an easiness to its existence, and all notably lack evidence of human civilization. Devoid of a body, the hands add an uncanny tension to the works, as they direct viewers toward what lies behind the curtains and emphasize, as the title suggests, “that the show is about to start.”

Disappearing Act will run from April 26 to May 13. Until then, take a look at Rohan’s Instagram, where she generously shares glimpses into her process.

 

Art

Vast Landscapes Escape the Edges of Tiny Frames in Barry Hazard’s Miniature Paintings

Sunlit mountains rise from lush valleys and foam caps the crests of waves in the expansive landscapes of Barry Hazard, painted at a scale that could fit snugly in the palm of your hand. Using wood panel as a base, Hazard builds up sculptural vistas in thick acrylic paint, detailing wildflowers, sandy beaches, and snow-capped peaks. Ranging from a couple of inches to about half a foot, his diorama-like Minis overflow from their tiny frames.

Hazard began working on a small scale during the pandemic when he was invited to participate in a show at Shelter in Place Gallery, a 1:12-scale gallery that operated in 2020 and showcased its exhibitions online when lockdowns made visiting physical exhibitions impossible. He relishes making the Minis because of the sense of immediacy evoked by the medium in such a small surface area. “A single brushstroke may capture an entire sky, and an idea or impulse might be completed in minutes or hours—not days,” he says.

Beginning with a frame sourced from a dollhouse supplier, he builds up the surface using acrylic gesso and modeling paste before adding vivid color. Rendered with loose precision, features in the Minis like paths, hills, and figures are clearly defined yet anonymous. Containing sprawling scenes in a tiny space provokes a type of reflection and contemplation that requires moving in close, rather than standing back to take in a grand view. “The scale is the antithesis to something grand or monumental,” he says, inviting viewers to approach “with less caution than a large painting and perhaps a greater sense of intimacy and playfulness.”

Hazard also applies similar techniques to larger paintings. He will have work presented by Good Naked Gallery at Barely Fair in Chicago this April and Future Fair in New York City in May. Find more work on his website and Instagram.

 

Photography

Vivid Photographs by Cari Letelier Follow the Aurora Borealis Across Iceland’s Night Sky

During the last couple days in February, a series of impressive solar storms sent the aurora borealis as far as California and Western Australia. The lights were particularly brilliant in northern places like Scotland and Iceland where the long winter nights provide ample darkness as a backdrop to the waving illuminations. Chile-based photographer Cari Letelier took advantage of Iceland’s position just a few degrees south of the Arctic Circle to capture vibrant images of the auroras as they traversed the skies above waterfalls, icy expanses, and the Arctic Henge.

The northern lights result from enormous solar events in which the sun emits energized particles that slam into Earth’s upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million miles per hour. Earth’s protective magnetic field redirects the particles toward the poles in a process that produces spectacular light shows. Letelier had been to Iceland once in 2019, but didn’t have much luck finding the phenomena, sharing that when she reached the Arctic Henge, “it was so cloudy and snowing, I told myself, ‘I have to come back and catch this place with the aurora.'”

This time, when she and a fellow photographer learned that there would be a solar flare that was likely to produce a spectacle, they made the seven-hour journey from the southern part of the island in search of sightings and captured some incredible images. “I had to make a decision whether to take the photo or to enjoy the show making mental captures,” she says. “As I wanted to make both, I set my camera to shoot photos for a timelapse while I was watching at the sky.”

Find more of Letelier’s work on her website and Instagram.

 

Art Photography

Illuminating Remote Landscapes, Rune Guneriussen Tells a Story of Nature and Transformation

Tucked away in forests and along shorelines, Norwegian artist Rune Guneriussen’s mystical, illuminated installations appear to spontaneously emerge from within the landscape. Lamps, blocks, and salvaged wood comprise an array of elaborate sculptural works that he meticulously arranges among trees, along bluffs, and in the sand. He is interested in a process that explores the relationships between objects, location, narrative, and the time that the work is made.

As the environment is increasingly altered by the effects of the climate crisis, Guneriussen’s observations have gradually transformed how he translates those relationships in his practice. During the past four years, the artist (previously) transitioned from using obsolete products to creating all of his sculptures from scratch with primarily reclaimed wood. He increasingly incorporates stark, geometric forms evocative of high-rise buildings or office lighting. By contrast, in “Fiery wingless and into growing regard,” a group of luminescent, spirit-like forms drifts across the forest floor as daylight fades.

While still using lamps, Guneriussen says, “for me, it has been a process of developing a scenery which has evolved with the time we live in. Being an artist for 20 years, always working in and with nature, it has been a story of going from optimism to seeing our nature in a dystopian manner… I have felt nature change to a degree I cannot recognize.”

Explore an archive of the artist’s work during the past two decades on his website, and follow updates on Instagram.

 

Photography

In ‘African Studies,’ Edward Burtynsky Photographs the Human Imprint on Sub-Saharan Landscapes

Renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky approaches his latest project with curiosity about the future of human impact and globalization. From the diamond mines of South Africa to the richly textured landscape of Namibia’s Tsaus Mountains, African Studies spotlights the sub-Saharan region and its reserves of metals, salt, precious gemstones, and other ores. “I am surveying two very distinct aspects of the landscape,” he says in a statement, “that of the earth as something intact, undisturbed yet implicitly vulnerable… and that of the earth as opened up by the systematic extraction of resources.”

Taken over seven years in ten nations—these include Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Madagascar, and Tanzania—the aerial photos, which are compiled in a forthcoming book published by Steidl, present a dichotomy between a region irrevocably altered by humanity and one of immense possibility. Burtynsky’s interest in the continent began in the early Aughts when working on a series about China, which he explains:

For that project, and while researching several topics including the Three Gorges Dam, urban renewal, and recycling, I learned how the new Chinese factories were being created. At the time, heavy machinery was literally being unbolted from concrete floors in Europe and North America, then shipped and refastened to the floors of gigantic facilities in China. This represented a paradigm shift of industry, and it seemed obvious that China was rapidly becoming a leading manufacturer for the world. I realized even then that the African continent was poised to become the next, perhaps even the last, territory for major industrial expansion.

Particularly since 2013 when it launched its Belt and Road Initiative, China has invested billions of dollars in expanding its global presence, with many African nations as targets. This growth, along with international competition for access and power on the continent, has widespread economic, environmental, and governmental impacts, which Burtynsky explores through the series.

 

Photographed via helicopter, plane, or drone, his images juxtapose the natural beauty of the landscape with the unnerving scars of human impact. Long tailing ponds, or waste sites from mining with the potential to contaminate the area with toxic chemicals, appear frequently in the project, while photos like that of the Dandora Landfill center on the direct effects of consumerism on local people. The largest waste repository in Kenya, the dump site attracts locals who scavenge recyclable plastic to sell, despite the rampant threat of cancer and infertility.

While much of African Studies is shot outdoors, Burtynsky heads inside for part of the project, documenting the interiors of manufacturing plants. “I hope to continue raising awareness about the cost of growing our civilization without the necessary consideration for sustainable industrial practices and the dire need for implementing globally organized governmental initiatives and binding international legislations in order to protect present and future generations from what stands to be forever lost,” he says.

African Studies is currently available for pre-order on Bookshop. Photos from the series are also on view at two New York spaces: Sundaram Tagore through April 1 and Howard Greenberg Gallery through April 22.