As Far As The Eye Can See

As Far As The Eye Can See

Historically, landscapes relied on a realistic depiction of the natural world as seen through an artist’s eye, often spanning idyllic depictions of nature, a setting for storytelling, an ode to the sublime or the surreal.

Today, this practice continues to push boundaries, bucking tradition, yet revelling in the interpretation of an artist’s gaze. By subverting the very definition of ‘view’, artists seek to question what they are really seeing and in turn it’s very representation. How much is seen through a lens of doctrine and dogma? How much relies on memory or imagination? How does the personal, the cultural and the communal co-mingle in how we view the natural world?

Libyan-American artist Saif Azzuz’s (b.1987, Eureka, California) practice spotlights indigenous cultures and holistic connections to land. Azzuz examines socially constructed boundaries that humans create, which prevent us from appropriate stewardship of land. His process serves as a metaphor for the unseen labour involved in caring for land. In this particular series (based on indigenous plant species used for medicinal purposes by Native communities across the United States) Azzuz experiments with wet on wet painting with acrylic pigments on both sides of canvas. As paint seeps through, the resulting alchemic reaction creates unexpected forms and landscapes. For Azzuz, these techniques and dramatic abstracts continue to propel the paintings into a new direction, further developing iconography rooted in heritage.

Agrarian roots and an intrinsic harmony with nature’s cycles have long been the foundation of G.R. Iranna’s (b.1970, Karnataka, India) practice. The tree is symbolic of his landscape, representing the familial, the allegorical, the spiritual and the elemental. Iranna’s trees are replete with blooms and dense foliage, reflecting vitality, beauty and strength. Their resilience and unencumbered growth, the wisdom of roots, the cycle of birth and death, the evolution of natural and human, as well as the changing ‘landscape’ of society and culture, all come together in the artist’s abstractions and ruminations. In his recent series, boodi or ash has become an integral part of his practice, not just as a medium, but also as a potent symbol of the very remnants of living.

It’s the spirit of the natural world rather than just physical geographies that Ross Taylor (b.1982, Northumberland, England) aims to capture. Taylor’s landscapes are not direct depictions, but are everevolving, a space where internal experiences and external realities intertwine. He approaches each composition in a flow state, tapping into his subconscious, into his emotional core, to continue an ongoing dialogue between the artist and the outside world. In his work, he seeks to capture the metamorphosis of landforms, blending vibrant psychedelic colors, unstable perspectives, and collage-like elements to create a dynamic visual language. Taylor references the Der Blaue Reiter painters (Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Franz Marc), Hudson River painter Thomas Cole and the compositional layouts of British artist Paul Nash. In the artist’s works, time and space collide in unexpected ways, emphasizing the impermanence of both the environment and our perceptions of it; allowing the artist to explore the intangible elements that influence our relationship with nature as well as the forces that define it.

In each artist’s view, landscapes are deeply personal, rooted in heritage, in memory and in symbolism, finding resonance in a rapidly changing world. These reiterations of the traditional practice are highly evocative and richly layered, reflecting more than just what meets the eye.

Priyanka R. Khanna