This work seeks to engage the global perspective and broad view of landscape inspired by the beauty of satellite imagery.

'Terre Memoire' and' Climate of Change' examines the tradition of map-making as a tool to commodify nature

The intention is to impose images of earth as an iconic whole upon our conditioned response to divide and separate. Divisions are evident in all pieces in this series. Each one is in some way segmented by borders and boundaries, often prominent bands of gold-leaf. Many contain and encapsulate lakes and rivers, pockets of color to symbolize water as a precious, contentious commodity.

Ecological issues have motivated most of my past work; tectonic movement and shift (Earth- Birthing, 1985) the power of nurturing (The Patterned Women,1988),issues of extinction (Fragile Existence, 1992),(Terre Memoire,1999) the influence of ancient plants (Historical Affinities, 2001) and most recently global warming (Climate of Change, 2005).

All of the work integrates layers of found fibre,handmade paper, and gold-leaf into deeply textured mixed-media collages. These layers incorporate gestural calligraphic marks that mimic natural pattern showing the similarity and inter-related nature of the microscopic /macroscopic world. This creates a sense of scale that is intentionally ambiguous in order to emphasize the life that moves through all of creation and manifests in an inter-related tumult of profound design.

Particular to these series is a wide range of yellow pigments, referring to the ancient tradition of using gold to decorate the sacred. This refers back to a time when springs,wells, stone circles and earth formations were embellished as ritual activity.

In contrast to these historical practices are contemporary mapmaking conventions incorporated into the textured surfaces. Land-use demarcation, municipal subdivision, weather tracking and seismographic information are the current methods used to monitor and subsequently objectify the earth. This layer of marks, by now quite familiar, show ownership,colonization and consumption.The paintings combine these mapping technologies with the shapes of vast land masses. Often the horizon is included but within a context of submerged continents and erupted islands.

The intention is to evoke the grandeur of landform in it’s perpetual evolution and contrast it with the contemporary dilemma of sustainability vs exploitation


Roberta Pyx Sutherland