A Shifting Perception of the Familiar

The paintings in this series explore how we, as humans, relate physically and perceptually to our environment. This series investigates the geometry of sites manipulated by past human occupation or intervention that are now in the process of moving away from a humanized grid toward the more “natural” state of their particular bioregion. These places come in many forms, from vines suffocating an abandoned orchard to the staggered encroachment of a woodlot into a fallow field.

The paintings in this series celebrate the passing moment of atmosphere, temperature, and humidity of a specific place at a specific time. They are sensory perceptions of place presented to the viewer. Intrigued by the visual excess that often accompanies natural succession, I employ color, mark, and erasure to both build an image and confound spatial perception. Layered marks and hatched line erode the wholeness of the overall image while transparent color and a web of texture cloak the brightly colored ground emerging from below.

ERIN CARNEY

ERIN CARNEY