Sculpted Landscapes
Artist Statement

"The problem was how to master the prairie's lack of feature..."
Clement Greenberg - Emma Lake, Saskatchewan, 1962

Undoubtedly, Greenberg, who was probably the best known art critic of the 20th century, and a master rhetorical juggler, would want to qualify and elaborate on this quote. Nevertheless, it states a commonly held misperception that the prairies lacks feature. It's a curious quote since of course Greenberg championed flat, non-representational or 'featureless' art such as abstract expressionism, color field paintings and minimalism. Immediately names like Hans Hoffman, Jackson Pollack and of course Barnet Newman, who was also an Emma Lake guest artist, come to mind. So one would assume a 'lack of feature' would not be a problem for Greenberg. Regardless, the main problem with this quote is, in fact, the prairies with its expansive skies, radiant horizons and flowing fields are indeed full of feature. "Sculpted Landscapes" was created with Greenberg's words close in mind and heart.

My ancestors were among the first pioneers to homestead and farm in the Moose Jaw district in the 1880's. For the next century plus, they toiled the prairie land which became ingrained in their souls. Somehow, from a flat and seemingly character less land a bond was formed and a heritage was created. Attesting to this, I can remember, how every day during harvest, my 90 year old grandfather would greet everyone at dawn, like a captain preparing his team. The conversation revolved around yield, grade, breakdowns or lack thereof, and of course, weather. We would leave him behind to go into the fields but at noon and at dinner he would invariably show up for his chance to lead the team and drive the combine. My father and his brothers wouldn't let him but when we stopped to eat he would jump on board the big machine, start the engine and take off into the field. One way or another he was going to participate. Today, those types of stories are disappearing into the past. That bond and heritage with the land is also slowly fading away as farming becomes less a family operation and more a corporate endeavor.
To honor and preserve this farming heritage and to re-capture that rugged hands-on bond with the land "Sculpted Landscapes" focuses on and chronicles the now decaying and vanishing farm buildings and grain elevators that once dotted the flat Saskatchewan prairies. These monuments stand - barely- not only as a fading symbol of the toil and bond pioneers once had with the land but also as a strong symbol of our own fleeting and fragile place in the world. Like the rugged land and swirling skies these canvases are painted with an ultra thick paint application, creating a seductive tactile texture of swirling furrows and ridges - in essence a landscape within a landscape - full of feature.


Greenberg, Clement "Clement Greenberg's View of Art on the Prairies" Canadian Art Magazine March/April 1963: p. 103