We exist in a world etched by light, rounded by dark, and defined by imagination. My paintings explore a metaphorical night landscape, referencing the cinematic pictorial space encountered in an idyllic American West. Archetypal images of the known (seascape and cityscape) are contrasted with those of the unknown (night sky and cosmos). Celestial objects, maps, grids and identifiers commonly used in astronomy, cartography and pictography are added to the paintings to form a cognitive map of the sublime. The blacks and blues of deep night skies exist alongside the lighter tones of evening skies in a landscape which aims to address the dual play of the real and the imagined.
My attempt to make sense of the universe is often at odds with the visceral feelings of grace and beauty I experience when viewing the natural world. Intuition and logic are not necessarily antithetical, and their melding can offer a limitless place from which to dream.
Susan Holcomb
2024