CONTRIBUTING ARTIST: INGUNA GREMZDE

Traditional landscape painting is usually thought of a visually literal, photographic-like, representation of nature. In these type of paintings, the viewer is provided with the sensation of experiencing the outside world contained on a two-dimensional surface. Nature has been captured and scaled down to a human scale and can be imbued with romantic conceptions like metaphor, culture, memory and desire. For example, Victorian landscape painters used a Claude glass (a small portable convex mirror with its surface tinted a dark color) as a framing device to define the ideal view. These picturesque paintings have the illusion of representing the external reality but for the most part, they are actually mediated views geared to trigger associations with the spiritual found in nature.

Inguna Gremzde’s lovingly painted landscapes are ethereal treasures that define an ideal view of nature. Romanticism is an art and literary movement that developed in the early nineteenth century. Its basic characteristics revolve around new interest in emotions, human psychology and an interest in the natural world. Think of a John Constable or J.M.W. Turner painting – both of these artists represent this movement perfectly. Gremzde, who lives part-time in London and received her MFA from Wimbledon College of Art (London, UK) is blatantly confronting this illusion of landscape by transposing these mediated views onto the plastic refuse she collects.

In her works, the external world is shrunk down, grouped together and intricately painted inside a series of plastic caps. The viewer can escape momentarily into a small world that Gremzde has constructed but is pushed back into reality when confronted by the medium she uses to create these picturesque views. The artist’s eco-aesthetic approach to art making is meant to juxtapose contemporary consumer lifestyles with humankind’s historically romantic relationship with nature. Gremzde’s works are intended to engage the viewer by reflecting on the relationship between mass production and the growing alienation from nature.

Exploring her works, you find a combination of image, object and installation. The serial approach to displaying her found objects strengthens the connection to mass production and issues surrounding globalization. Gremzde lures us in with her romantic renderings of nature but we depart thinking about our impact on the environment. Gremzde’s work represents an artist attempting to make a difference by producing meaningful art geared to motivate society to more sustainable lifestyles.

TISH GREENWOOD, Executive Director, California Museum of Art Thousand Oaks (CMATO) is dedicated to creating cultural spaces where ideas are shared and people connect. Tish’s professional experience includes positions at the J. Paul Getty Museum, photo l.a. and ArtSlant. Her experience working for the National Endowment for the Arts spurred her recent curatorial project Mass Appeal: The Art of Corita Kent. Tish received her BA in Art History from John Cabot University, Rome, Italy and her MA in Museum Studies and Contemporary Art from Georgetown University and Sotheby’s Institute of Art-New York.