During our time here in Joshua Tree, Mr. Forager & I often find ourselves talking about what makes this place so different compared to everywhere else we’ve lived. Apart from the obvious, there is such an openness to the landscape here that creates incredible beauty, and yet, there is no place to hide abandoned buildings, rusted out cars and windblown trash. The paintings of Dallas artist Kim Cadmus Owens featured familiar lonely landscapes, infused with color and fractured lines inspired by technological irregularities.
Just as the forsaken buildings once loved and cared may now be hazardous eye sores, our relationship with technology and electronic communication also shifts and evolves. We long for the immediate connection it allows, yet find ourselves frustrated and often unable to cope when the lines of communication go awry.
We love how easy it is to connect and yet balk at how those systems of connection invade our privacy. We often find ourselves forsaking the people sitting right next to us for those on the tiny screen in our hands, just as we abandon old buildings full of character and history for shiny new strip malls. Owens use of fragmented lines and color in her work remind us that those connections have broken.
To see more of the work of Kim Cadmus Owens, please visit her website. How have you seen your relationships and landscape change with the changes in technology? What do you do to combat against a reliance on electronic communication & gadgets galore?
Artist found via New American Paintings. All images are via the artist’s website or the New American Paintings blog.