Petaluma studies
On Érème:
The series Érème utilizes a three-dimensional oil painting technique in order to transform the traditional understanding of landscape painting while questioning our contemporary view of and relationship to nature. The term, Érème, is drawn from anthropologist Philippe Descola’s, “Beyond Nature and Culture.” In opposition to the ecumene, spaces frequented daily by humans; Érème defines the geographical zones that are rarely visited by humans. However, over centuries, as man has taken over the earth, analyzed, photographed, and mapped the planet, this term has become more obsolete, more questionable. The series of work offers an interpretation and snapshot of the loss of undiscovered nature by evoking something organic but unrecognizable. But rather than representing a selected place, the paintings instead sprout and spontaneously develop. The ambiguity of material appears simultaneously soft and fragile and the depth evoked a curiosity, leaving the viewer to endlessly question what lies in the core.
Photography: Nikolaus Brade, Jens Ziehe and Detlef Janz
Website Design: Alyssa Gerasimoff