Carol Dawson: The Great Piece of Turf
May 4
- May 25, 2013
"The pull of the natural world is insistent to me. I like to translate my fascination for soil and root systems, leaf structures and the transparent glow of flower petals, on a scale large enough to fill the mind and thrust the viewer straight into the labyrinth of life.
In doing so I also pay homage to Albrecht Durer and his historic watercolor The Great Piece of Turf, a masterpiece of vibrant delicacy painted in 1503 which survives to this day to move us with its freshness and power. His work inspires me to continually re-explore those micro-worlds that lie below us, to remind myself leaf by leaf, cell by cell, of their complexity and life force, and, with each mark of my brush, to praise the ecosystem in which we all participate. These magnified landscapes, which might present vistas as comparatively vast as a forest or a mountain range, only exist in their captured forms for perhaps a few hours, and I intend them to evoke the transitory nature of our lives, the cycles of growth and decay, splendor and erosion, the absolute fact of the earth's evanescence. My size of choice brings the modern social system into play. Through the larger-than-life shared experience of viewing my work I hope to bring about a common ground of intimacy with the miraculous beauty upon which we build our world.”
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