Through painting, I illuminate the invisible atmospheric implications of climate change. I have chosen to paint with acrylic paint using brushes in a way that takes a significant amount of time and effort. My intention is that the paintings encapsulate more than just an instant, but rather an unfolding of time. Each one takes months or years to create. This layering of time and color creates the richness of each piece, like how every moment is a compilation of all of eternity delivering us to Now.

The Mother Paintings are a meditation on the human/nature connection over time. Each painting in this series starts with an air pollutant emissions dataset combined with a color palette inspired by the largely forgotten 19th century women American landscape painters of the Hudson River School.

In creating this body of work, I explore the contemporary experience of land through a current late-capitalist, scientific lens – through its data. I illuminate scientific figures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 2017 State Pollutant Emissions Inventory. At the time of painting these works it is the latest emissions dataset of this kind published, and I contemplate how earlier women painters related to the land around them – highlighting their own experience learning about, enjoying, and navigating the land.

“Before it can ever be a repose for the senses, landscape is the work of the mind. Its scenery is built up as much from strata of memory, as layers of rock…” - Simon Schama

To inquire, contact the artist: lhalleckson@gmail.com