Creation Date
2016
Preview
Medium
oil on wood
Description
Dimensions: 27 x 44 inches (panel overall)
This panel is part of a larger work entitled Nuclear Fission.
Rights
© Oscar Ramirez Castillo, 2016. Photo Credit: Braxton Duncan.
Exhibit Images
Keywords
colonialism, culture, society, evolution, environmental, landscape
Artist Statement
My work critiques our current social conditions as we approach a shift in our society that will forefront the issue of energy consumption and challenge social conventions. With rising tensions between nations, and our inability to find peace among each other, there is a perturbed feeling about what the future holds for us. It is apparent that with technological advancements and evolving social norms, culture as we know it now will change drastically over a long period of time. My painting alters the qualities of and relationship between space and time to visually express impending changes. The three panels work together to form an apocalyptic narrative that works as a metaphor for the death of our culture in order to give birth to another. The streets are filled unsuspecting citizens as their environment warps and tears away. The dense persecution of the land and natural resources is an evident theme, incorporating multiple perspectives where streets lead to nowhere and buildings seem to overlap each other endlessly. The overall composition exists in a tension between the subject matter and the shape- consistently reminding us to consider the edges as an active force within the piece.