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landscapes
sporadic ongoing project
more paintings by mark laver
Artist's Statement
Indeed, we cannot imagine that a mind could paint. It is by lending his body to the world that the artist changes the world into paintings. (Maurice Merleau-Ponty)
Unless otherwise noted, these landscapes were painted on site, mostly on Vancouver Island, Hornby and Denman Islands, and Haida Gwaii. Completing paintings outdoors in a single session fulfills a need to get outside, immerse myself in weather and practice an all-or-nothing, intuitive method of painting. I approach the landscape not as an observer of things, but as a participant in an event, an ever-changing and open-ended event of which I am a part. Seeing (that mysterious integration of mind/body), thought, and bodily expression—the gesture of the hand wielding the brush—are intertwined and simultaneous. The paintings are a gestural trace of the here-and-now, as opposed to a depiction of objects in a space, often resulting in an overall-ness and a sense of place that is as much emotive as descriptive.