Dawn Revette Artist's Statemant

CARGO SERIES

Cargo. Weighty, anonymous, masses of consumable goods. A voluminous

presence that fails to fill the absence in which it is placed.

Shipping lanes. Highways. Storage yards. Gateways through which material

goods in their anonymous phase leave or enter our lives; portals through

space and time for Things. Solidity. Gravity. "Needs".

I see in these portals stillborn opportunities. I see what was here, before the

cargo and the promises. I see a mirage of material goods preening with

seductive poise. I see what cargo cannot replace. I see the potential for

change.

These sites speak to me of how anonymous consumption fragments our

society within itself and divides us from the environment. Stained wood

reveals an absence of nature that this ingestion of goods creates. To me it is

an absence that screams. Yet these goods pass as unbranded cargo

through quiet ports, sleepy highways, and placid storage fields. These

places stand as silent memorials to what we have sacrificed in order to

achieve the cargo we so fanatically pursue. For me these are peaceful

places. Like cemeteries, or morgues. Tranquil, beautiful, and tragic.

I paint the images because for me paint best conveys the beauty that I feel

in the anxious desolation of these locations. With paint I can better recreate

the subtle fusion of fascination and pain that I experience when standing

there. I can freeze the highway's silent roar, and touch the solitude.

<<