Dioramas "captured" from nature

Painter/sculptor Gregory Euclide starts his gorgeous diroamas by pouring blue resin onto the forest floor in Colorado. He then builds his lovely landscapes around that cast of nature. Euclide is showing his "Capture" series at Denver's David B. Smith Gallery until November 14. Video and more details after the jump.

From the show description posted at Hi-Fructose:

Euclide explores the difficulty of escaping the cultural lens from which we view nature. Images from traditional landscape paintings, wildlife documentaries and travel guides construct our cultural expectations and define how we view land. Euclide's work explores the conflicts between these images of idealized, picturesque views and the desire to truly experience nature as it is. The pieces in this exhibit contain a mixture of painted images shaped into sculptures with imagery drawn from memory, photo transfers based on traditional nature photography, abstract areas of raw paint, and actual artifacts such as pine needles and moss. The use of materials that are non-biodegradable, such as foam that has been weathered by nature, further emphasizes the invasiveness of the commercial world in which we live. It is this tension between the realistic and the representational, between the pristine and the changed, that makes the work so engaging. Pools of thick, blue liquid paint mimic the properties of the rivers and streams they are used to represent, calling into question the illusion of representational art. Similarly, the exaggerated folds of thick watercolor paper transform the flat, framed image of the traditional landscape into a dimensional topography with many points of view. The three-dimensional forms of these pieces-painted on both sides and containing hidden vignettes and small treasures-encourage the kind of exploration and excitement that might be found in experiencing nature rather than in viewing a traditional picture, further mixing and confusing the untouched and the idealized.

"Gregory Euclide literally Captures Nature" (Hi-Fructose)

Gregory Euclide online gallery (David B. Smith Gallery)

• [gr8piper]

  I’m a bit concerned with what gets killed when resin is poured onto the forest floor.

• [takeshi]

  @ Cruxx:

  Yeah, because you know, in the REAL world, artists and galleries should never say or do anything that we hadn’t already correctly assumed we could say or do better.

  I didn’t read the description until I saw it here. There were a couple of sheets of paper off to the side at the show, but for the most part the artwork itself commanded my attention. Others in the room were equally delighted.

• [takeshi]

  Ah, too bad! I was thinking I’d missed an opportunity to meet you. It was a terrific show. Very different from the kind of work I’m used to seeing at Denver galleries.

  Now that I know about the space, I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for future openings. It’s only a few blocks away from where I live.

• [PrestoVivace]

  Wow, sorry I won’t be able to see the exhibit, it looks really cool.

• [Cruxx]

  Artist’s statements and show descriptions need some sort of revolution in style. They are so cringe-inducing and generic, I end up liking the work less than before I had read anything about it.

• [takeshi]

  I was at the opening last night. Lovely work. Were you there, too, David?

  • [David Pescovitz]

    I wish I had been, Takeshi, but I’m 1,200 miles away.