SOUTH GALLERY

 

– LEAH SCHRETENTHALER –

I WANT TO SEE THE LAND HOW IT USED TO BE

March 7 – April 6, 2019

ARTIST STATEMENT:

The land of Hawaii is vast, luxurious, and controversial. The growing population and tourism has threatened the space and its ability to accommodate all the occupants. The growth of research needs, social media, and transportation has all been affected by this growth. From the research telescopes on the mountain of Maunakea on the Big Island, to the crumbling rail project on Oahu believed to fix the traffic problem, these infrastructures have impeded on the land. Growth in Hawaii is not a good thing. Constantly building, growing, and expanding has created empty spaces, voids in Hawaii. Using traditional printed photographs that consist of selected, man made spaces attempted to be removed. The residue from the laser cut leaves a negative space of what is there. The act of trying to remove these man made objects to set the landscape free has made weakened the paper and inevitably weakened the landscape it is trying to depict.