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Meeting(1)
Chloe Moss
Handmade oil paint crafted from rocks, brick, clay, marigold, goldenrod and yarrow foraged in the Hudson Valley, charcoal from a bonfire in Baltimore and oil paint on canvaspaint canvas
36” x 36”
“Painting acts as a practice of remembering—remembering that I am a constituent of the environment speaking to itself, or rather communicating with the interwoven tapestry of relational beings both human, and non-human. It allows me to orient myself within the earth’s natural cycles and seasons of birth, life, death and ever reforming organic matter carried out in the bodies of emergent organisms big and small. Moreover, my paintings act as celebratory markers of personal evolution in the healing journey of moving beyond conceptions of myself as small, static and cut off. These paintings respond to the late Pulitzer prize winning biologist and author, Edward O. Wilson’s concept of “biophilia,” which he defined as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life.” (Wilson) In alignment with this idea I aim to interpret and reflect back the life force flowing through all beings. I envision this energy in delicate patterns of emanating and pulsating forms of light: may they be lattices, networks, intertwined branches, veins, threads, ripples or smoky and hazy veils spiraling into themselves. These paintings are made primarily using handcrafted paints of botanical lake pigments, hand ground rock and clays. Through direct exploration of the local landscape I come to understand the different life cycles, preferences and personalities of each plant, fungus, rock that I am interested in honoring and respectfully turning into paint.”
- Chloe Moss