The ‘Clear From The Start’ series, are portraits of the so called “white elephants” of the landscape genre. Nuclear plants, oil platforms, missile launch sites, billboards, and high tension transmission towers feature prominently in the recent works which are painted with lurid colors and crepuscular light that suggests dawn or dusk. The central painting titled Three Mile Island (2018) refers to the nuclear power plant that became infamous to Americans in March of 1979 when it went into partial meltdown and released dangerous radioactive gases and iodine into the environment. The now defunct plant, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has for the last 40 years remained as a ruin, a memorial and a warning. In retrospect, it seems only logical to me that an industry without solutions for the safe disposal of radioactive waste nor a clear plan for the inevitable catastrophic accident was not sustainable. The paintings are a visual reminder that the far-reaching effects and consequences of these technological developments should have been “clear from the start“. The ideas of hindsight and foresight in the choice of iconography and in the perception of the image by future viewers are essential elements in painting. I see hindsight as a failure of the imagination through which deliberate ignorance aligns with a perception of the world that willfully disregards logical consequences of cause and effect. These paintings memorialize a first glimpse into the future, starting half a century ago, when events predicted that our ‘lifestyle’ would inevitably pollute and damage the earth.

Three Mile Island, acrylic on panel, 36 X 36in, 2018

Holly, acrylic on panel, 36.5 X 36.5in, 2018

Java-Time, acrylic on panel, 20 X 24in, 2018

Clear From The Start, acrylic on panel, 36 X 36in, 2018

The Color of Love, acrylic on panel, 40 X 30in, 2018

Love Canal, acrylic on panel, 18.5 X 18.5in, 2018