Material and Imaginative Worlds: Landscapes from the Collection of Davidson College

Gallery Purchase

Tidelines series: All material caught in the water’s current is in a stage of softening. No matter our beliefs or politics, this decay can be both beautiful and frightening. Sharp coastal rock eventually turns into sand and plastic objects diminish recognition as they become harmful micro-plastics in our water. The shoreline and its ever-changing collecting of debris mirrors our cultural habits and consumerist tendencies, leaving colorful confetti in its wake. Rooted in experimentation, the Tideline paintings are made with many applications of pre-dried paint that is applied in reverse. I pool paint on sheets of plastic and allow it to dry. The paint-covered plastic can then be used as a kind of decal, in which the plastic is flipped over and the dry paint adhered to the canvas. In the same way that layers of sediment under pressure form a rock, there are hidden layers in a painting that create an image. Thus, the paintings are explorations of terrain, a physical encounter with paint that mimics natural forces of ocean spray, light on water, tidal crust, and shifting forms of sand and silt. They are also a sobering look into our refuse and its active presents in the “natural” landscapes we inhabit.

Katie St. Clair: Lay of the Land (exhibition page & brochure)