A World of Hurt
Kingsley Parker
A World of Hurt
December 5, 2020 – January 3, 2021
STATEMENT (from catalog)
Walking with the dog in the woods in New York State, driving through the Adirondack Park taking my son to school, visiting in-laws in the northwest, and vacationing in coastal Maine, one can see that forests are struggling. These familiar areas are facing insect infestations, invasive vines, acid rain, pollution, drought, fire, human expansion and more. Yet there is beauty and nobility in these trees even as they struggle. I have made paintings of these trees large so we all are forced to look up and acknowledge their superior scale and grandeur. I have selected trees from diverse locations to convince us that problems are everywhere, even right next to us.
Trees are amazing. They offer shelter and food for birds and animals. Some can live for hundreds of years. Yet trees are also a disposable commodity: a source for paper, lumber, fuel, toilet paper(!), as well as our own shelter and food. Yet they are but one indicator of an astounding diverse world that we humans have selfishly plundered.
In addition to the paintings are sculptures and works on paper that address a world increasingly indifferent and maybe even hostile to the life style we have assumed we could continue forever.
Image: Vertebrae Mt. Spokane, WA, 2019, Acrylic paint on old canvas drop cloths, 57 x 86 inches
image copyright of the artist
