| |
| author |
Caroline Polich
| | title |
World on Fire: Painting Landscapes Altered by Climate Change
| | abstract |
My work examines the effects of climate change and uses the natural world as a vessel
for human emotions such as tension, loss, and nostalgia. I am drawn to extremes in nature: the
beautiful and horrific, creation and destruction, fire and water. I convey these dualities through
light and dark, negative and positive space, and palettes that incorporate both vibrant and neutral
colors. I make landscape paintings and plant sculptures, working with watercolor on paper. My
landscape paintings use imagery of wildfires, glacial melt, and rising tides, drawing parallels
between the climate crisis and human emotions. I use wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques in
tandem to explore the contrasts between powerlessness and control, ambiguity and clarity.
Sections of pure, unpainted paper create moments of negative space that represent extreme heat,
cold, destruction, and loss. My watercolor sculptures of diseased plants explore the tensions
between vulgarity and beauty, illness and health. The morbid allure of the diseased plants
questions our perceptions of beauty in nature, and acts as a metaphor for the COVID-19
pandemic and the devastating effects of disease. I explore the possibilities of paper, cutting,
folding, and manipulating it into petals, leaves, and stems. In this thesis, I examine my artistic
practice over the past year (2020-2021) including my process, influences, use of materials, and
conceptual framework.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2021)
|
| advisor |
Claire Sherman
|
| committee |
Raymond Stein
Kim Rhodes
|
| full text | CPolich.pdf - requires Drew uLogin |
| |
