ERUPTION SERIES & EARTH SERIES (1989-1994)
Inspired by the Icelandic landscape and volcanic eruptions, this series of paintings evolved over a period of five years. While the landscapes reflect the unpredictability, power and destructive potential of nature, they also serve as a metaphor for political upheaval. The brutal suicide bombings in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, in particular, fueled images in my brain of shattered body parts flying through the air. Unexpected and uncontrollable political eruptions were devastating the human landscape around me, and I viewed them as similar to volcanic eruptions and lava flows that wipe out entire landscapes, changing the surrounding habitat.
In these primeval spaces, surfaces are barren and rocky, full of crevices and holes, wounded and ravaged. Underground and unseen, fire and lava are active, waiting for the confluence of conditions that could lead to eruption. Above, the ground shifts and trembles, in a continuous state of flux. The multiple panels have different viewpoints and shifting perspectives, microcosms and macrocosms. The paint has a physical presence that corresponds to the texture and surfaces of the earth and organic matter.
