CATASTROPHE OF CIVILISATION

Catastrophe of Civilisation oil on linen 61 x 61 cm 2019

War, Art and Visual Culture
I have just returned from Sydney here I attended and presented at the War, Art and Visual Culture symposium.  It was a stimulating symposium with attendees and presenters from around the world. It was a honour to have had my presentation proposal Art and Resistance: New Landscapes in the Drone Age accepted. And, I am very happy with how it was received.

Catastrophe of Civilisation

Imagine you are a space traveler from another solar system or even galaxy. You pass by Earth, what do you see? What vibes do you get from what you see? Is there hope or no hope for this planet and its occupants?

Here are two possibilities, one hopeful, the other not so much. You may think of a few other possibilities.

Possibility one: Yes, you see fire, flood, drought, mass exodus, coral bleaching, pollution, warfare, surveillance. These all indicate perils for the planet and those that live there, human and non-human. They also indicate ongoing and accelerating activities that have exacerbated the erosion of habitat and civilisation. 

But, you also see red trees-of-life seemingly forming a tunnel, a passage that leads to the white circle. Is this a passage to salvation, to a cleaner, friendlier outcome for this planet? Maybe? Like the filtering follicles, or cilia, that line a respiratory system do the trees-of-life promise some kind  of filtering, cleansing process, a second chance? Maybe?  

Possibility two: Yes, you see all the catastrophic events and happenings described above. But, while the trees can still be trees-of-life, do they offer hope? Or, are they witnesses to the demise of civilisation on this planet Earth, as it heads towards the white light, the passover, death? If you believe in some kind of life after death, then this may not be so catastrophic? The alternative is, however, very confronting. The existential threat posed by the collapse of civilisation and planetary habitability, is clear.

As a space traveler, you make a note to yourself to pass by planet Earth in one hundred Earth years, to see how things are going. 

On that note....

Cheers,

Kathryn

Readers might also like to visit posts;

The Body Politic

Anthropocene

Cosmic Testimony

COSMIC FIRE - Online Exhibition

 HOT Gouache on paper  56 x 76 cm 2017 

COSMIC FIRE is an online exhibition of a selection of my paintings that refer, either directly or indirectly, to fire. Not any old kind of fire though, and not necessarily real fires. I am thinking about cosmic fire, the kind that precipitates or represents the birth or death of solar systems, the kind that erupts when landscapes change, when volcanoes spill forth a planet's buried entrails. Or, fire as a symbolic warning that human activities can have catastrophic outcomes.

Do we want to stir the dark chasms?

I have selected a few recent works on paper and placed some of them with older paintings. I've done this to demonstrate how some themes continue in an artist's practice, albeit often not in direct ways.

INFLUENCES
Recent paintings have been influenced by my research into militarised technology. Older work that was influenced by my interest in cosmology resonate with my recent cosmic landscapes - often harbouring loitering airborne weaponised drones The tree-of-life is a common element in many of the paintings. It streams hope. Ultimately, my interest in cosmology has extended an interest in another theme, that of perspective, both literal and metaphoric. My influences are woven through my paintings and over time a fabric of images has emerged.


PRICES
If you are interested in buying please contact me through the "Contact Form" upper right of this post.

And, if you are interested in my dronescapes please visit DRONESCAPES

DARK CHASMS

Stirring the Dark Chasm Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2017

Perpetual Beginning Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm 2011

Firmament Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm [51 x 62 cm framed] 2011

ANTHROPOCENE

 Anthropocene Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 76 cm 2017. 

 Cosmic Testimony Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 76 cm 2017

Planet $ Oil on linen 30 x 30 cm 2011

BIRTH AND DEATH OF WORLDS

 Star Blood Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2017

Greener Pastures Oil on linen 50 x 50 cm 2014

Birth of Landscape oil on linen 138 x 168 cm 2014

FIRE AND FLOOD 

                            Fire and Flood: Extremus Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2017 NFS

Storm Oil on linen 85 x 150 cm 2012

SECRETS

I've 'curated' Secrets as the last painting because, whilst not directly referencing fire, it contains some hopeful ideas - but it depends on how you read it.

Secrets Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 76 cm 2017

Cheers,
Kathryn

FIRE AND FLOOD: EXTREMUS

Fire and Flood: Extremus Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2017

PLANETARY HOME

I have painted another image that speaks to our planetary home's current environmental dilemmas - extreme weather events, environmental degradation, pollution and more. What is not consumed by fire and heat will be subsumed by flooding waters - maybe? 

The type of landscape is unclear - it appears to be both sky and land, cosmic even. Is the fire a sign of earthly remnants burning off their last signs of existence? Is the flood the spilling of cosmic tears? Are we looking through tears down onto a landscape or up through them to an endless sky? Maybe the fire and the flood are ghostly essences, reminders that a planet once existed? 

But, maybe the fire and flood are signs of new life, a cauldron of possibility? Maybe fire, water and unseen forces are stirring universal alchemic processes that bring forth new possibilities? These new possibilities - material or spiritual...

INSPIRATION
Apart from thinking about our planet and its future, and therefore humanity's future, this painting was inspired by recent devastating floods here in Queensland, Australia, in the aftermath of super-Cyclone Debbie. I have personally experienced rising waters in four floods, one in Dalby where I grew up, two in Goondiwindi where I lived for eighteen years and one in Brisbane during the 2011 floods. Fortunately none caused major losses. However, I do know what it is like to be an island, completely cut off, snakes seeking the same high ground you are on, the dankness of mud as the waters recede...

The painting is also inspired by memories of the massive fires my father and other farmers lit to burn off crop stubble. This practice was stopped at some stage and farmers then started to plough stubble back into the soil. However, I still have vivid childhood memories of fires that covered whole paddocks. Flames leaped into the air, into darkening skies. These flames seemed to lick at the stars, teasing them. Dusk and at night were the safest times for the farmers to set fire to stubble...the air is still then. 

The dark night skies of my childhood are the entry points for my cosmic travelling - imagined in my paintings. 

RECENT NEWS

The Center for the Study of the Drone, Bard College, New York conducted an interview with me about my dronescapes. The interviewer is Maggie Barnett.  Portfolio: Dronescapes by Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox

Cheers,

Kathryn

ANTHROPOCENE

Anthropocene Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 76 cm 2017

In Queensland, Australia, where I live, we have just experienced Cyclone Debbie. Luckily I live south of where the eye of the storm hit, but this cyclone was so massive that it has affected the entire Queensland coastline. Take a look at images taken from the International Space Station HERE

So, with Cyclone Debbie in mind, my new painting Anthopocene 'speaks' to what seems to be an escalation in natural disasters not only in frequency, but in size and ferocity over the last few decades. The term Anthropocene has entered our lexicon to describe a new geologic era, one where human activities have influenced atmospheric, geologic, biospheric and hydrolic systems on Earth. You can read more about the Anthropocene on various websites including Anthropocene   and Smithsonian . com

ANTHROPOCENE

I started Anthropocene well before Cyclone Debbie threatened. Why? Because, things like drought, mass forced migration of people, floods, coral bleaching and firestorms intersect with increasing surveillance, political tensions, social schisms, terrorism and war. These in turn intersect with increasing developments in technology, emerging new technologies, exploration of space and neo-liberal hijacking of seemingly everything in order to monetise it. All sounds rather dire really!

In Anthropocene I take a cosmic view of human activity! There's fire, coral bleaching, flooding rains, drought, mass forced migration/exodus - and - cross-hair targets, a weaponised Reaper drone and space based assets [GPS and communications satellites] representing their dual-use civilian/military status. Then, there are some fervent red trees - trees-of-life, their branches turned inwards as if creating an airway where their filaments-leaves can filter invasive forces - a promising breathing space. Even the radiating surveillance rays of an obscured reconnaissance force cannot infiltrate the breathing space. 

Perhaps life has other plans for us? 

NEWS

My painting The Tree of Life Sends its Energy Underground is the front cover of the next Australian Women's Book Review Please click on their website where you can see the image, plus read my artist's statement. And, you can order the review! 

In February an interview Portfolio: Dronescapes by Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox I did with Maggie Barnett from the Centre for the Study of the Drone, Bard College, New York was published on the Centre's fabulously informative website. 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox

SUN IS SHINING

Storm Oil on linen 85 x 150 cm

 

Queensland has been under seige over the last week.  Cyclone Oswald turned into a massive, prolonged and destructive weather system that has caused vast ares of flooding and continued flooding. Some communities are experiencing their second or third flood event in 2-2.5 years. After days of grey clouds, rain dumps and wild winds the sun is shining here in Brisbane today. The Brisbane River is flooding, but nowhere as badly as early 2011.

 

The destruction of property and loss of life are dreadful. For those who have been pounded for the second or third time, their spirits are understandable very low. Recovery, of all kinds, takes a long time and a heavy toll.

 

The dreadful flooding is ocurring at the same time as wild bush fires continue to play havoc in southern states. Australia is certainly a land of extremes.

 

 

COSMOLOGY UPDATE

 

Doors open tomorrow Wednesday 30 January 11 am

 

For all the details please check out my COSMOLOGY webpage by clicking HERE

 

Also if you have not read my short story:

 

A Not So Impossible Dream:

A short story about Earth and the Universe

Please click HERE

 

AND

 

To read the terrific article

 

Cosmology – Art as a Conduit between Science and Humanity

 

in

The Culture Concept Circle online publication

Please click HERE

 

 

I am working on a new painting. Here's a detail of the work in progress. I have ideas floating through my head...and a title will bubble up I am sure. But, until then it is not titled.

 

Detail: Untitled painting oil on linen work in progress Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox

 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com