{"id":38537,"date":"2018-09-24T19:38:52","date_gmt":"2018-09-25T01:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=38537"},"modified":"2019-04-12T21:36:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T03:36:19","slug":"diving-in-the-headlines-with-sandy-brunvands-divisive-landscapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/diving-in-the-headlines-with-sandy-brunvands-divisive-landscapes\/","title":{"rendered":"Diving in the Headlines with Sandy Brunvand’s Divisive Landscapes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Works from the Divisive Landscapes series in the artist’s studio. Photo by Shawn Rossiter.<\/p><\/div>\n

As our most dynamic organ, the brain is at once remarkably expansive and persistently conservative, constantly aiming to preserve its energy. The ever-increasing pace of social media has nurtured this trend of mental conservation\u2014instead of reading and prioritizing media according to its supposed importance or significance, we often are\u00a0drawn to that which is highly visible and replete with large, striking language. Headlines\u2014a staple of Western journalism\u2014are now paramount to the articles themselves.<\/h4>\n

That is to say, that when scrolling through threads or timelines, headlines appear as coded markers of information, vying ever so desperately for our attention amid a sea of cat videos and baby pictures. Within our information economy, the landscape of possibilities is, well, endless. Undeniably, this era of information overload makes it easy to simultaneously flood us with viral news stories, and yet drown out highly important topics with a fickle 24-hour news cycle. In 2018, whether we digest news online or the old-fashioned way, it appears as though our social landscape is fraught with uncertainty and contention. As foreign as the comparison may appear at first, it\u2019s compelling to consider the headline as decidedly physical–ripe with comparison to geographic barriers that exist within a tangible landscape.<\/h4>\n

This idea is quite intuitive to Sandy Brunvand. As a nature enthusiast and an artist, her identity seems marked by a natural predisposition to view the world through what she calls \u201clandscape-colored glasses.\u201d In a romantically American fashion, artists long have considered the canvas a landscape by which to explore their cognitive and creative potential. Now, her series \u201cDivisive Landscapes,\u201d an ongoing project that began in 2016, is a part of Site Lines: Recent Work by University of Utah Art Faculty<\/em>, on view at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts through Jan. 6, 2019.<\/h4>\n

As its title would suggest, the series explores landscapes decidedly more cerebral\u2014and turbulent\u2014than the pristine Western landscape of Utah lore. Crafted on small sheets of thin-fiber paper, the paintings are created by marking a black ink-water mixture onto the surface. Each result is somewhat different, as variations occur depending on the amount of ink, the length of the drying process, the unique surface of a given sheet of paper, and environmental exposure. Brunvand relishes the ritualistic process of their making, and only crafts \u201cbatches\u201d of four-to-five pieces at a time. The abstractions mimic the organic forms of real landscapes, and often simulate waves or branches.<\/h4>\n

Discerning the alterations between each painting epitomizes Walter Benjamin\u2019s idea of the \u201caura,\u201d the notion that the dynamism emanating from each creation reflects the essence of that which was poured into it. The dark ink stains the surface in a variety of patterns, which fluctuate in their thickness, intensity, and connotation. Indeed, each piece looks remarkably different from the next and through its dark abstractions, entertains a number of interpretive possibilities. Embedded within the ominously dynamic abstractions of each painting, Brunvand includes headlines from the past two years, specifically those relating to the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election: \u201cFear and Uncertainty,\u201d \u201cTrump Orders End of \u2018Dream,\u2019\u2019 \u201cToday, I Am Delivering.\u201d<\/h4>\n