Carol McHarg

Route Selection in a Graben Zone
Acrylic; 48 x 36 in.

I am interested in connections between the art of painting and the extended world of design. My work explores the visual and ecological effects of engineers and designers on the landscape and reflects my history and ideology as a landscape architect. The narrative of design versus nature is embodied in the style and materiality of my painting. I engage the formal conventions of historic landscape painting in new ways by combining symbolism with reality, perspective with flatness and an exaggerated configuration of nature overlaid with a designed reconfiguration of the landscape. I am most intrigued by the unique qualities of art as a means of discourse. The layers of meaning, the symbolism and the content that can be imbued in a work of art make it an especially rich and intellectually challenging means for conveying narrative.

© Carol McHarg