Eric Wert Artist Statement
I love science fiction and horror movies. They often depict fear and anxiety towards
nature and the unknown. In a way, these contemporary art forms parallel early renaissance
images of nature - where nature is depicted as something threatening and mysterious.
However, in everyday urban experience, plants are far removed from the natural environment
that they originally evolved to inhabit. They are used as harmless decorations which
make us feel comfortable and safe.
I bought the cacti that appear in these drawings in the garden department of a
department store. Upon close observation they began to appear otherworldly and mysterious -
so different from the humble decorative cacti that I first noticed at the store. Every cactus
has its' own unique character and its' own peculiarities. I think of these drawings as a series
of portraits: each one a self-sufficient, idiosyncratic and isolated individual. The cacti
represent a duality between being completely manufactured domestic items and being
sublime and mysterious curiosities. In my drawings the subject is situated in an undefined
environment: there's no reference to the indoor tabletop of a conventional still life, but the
blank backgrounds suggest that it's not really outdoors.
With each drawing I exaggerate the visual qualities that are the most interesting.
This is done by working from 4x5 transparency photographs with a magnifying glass, to
zoom in on every detail. What I see often reminds me of other things, so I'll incorporate
diverse sources from art history to popular culture to natural history. In one drawing I
used a photograph of a sea anemone to emphasize the wispiness of the spines and the soft,
almost translucent flesh of the cactus. In another, Italian Renaissance portraits were
referenced to emphasize the porcelain-like skin on that cactus. The dramatic lighting
of other drawings is inspired by science fiction images.
Click thumbnails for larger images
