Patti Trimble: Vanishing California
May 18 — June 24, 2012
PROJECT SPACE
Patti Trimble, Eden Catalogued (Endangered and Threatened California Species) , oil on canvas, 54" x 72"
Patti Trimble, Cushenbury Buckwheat, oil on linen, 36" x 39"
Patti Trimble, Owls Clover, oil on linen, 36" x 36"
Patti Trimble, Endangered Showy Clover, oil on linen, 38" x 36"
Patti Trimble, Fountain Thistle, oil on linen, 44"x 39"
Patti Trimble, Leaving Eden (150+Endangered Calfornia Species) oil on digital print on canvas, 36" x48"
Patti Trimble, Marin Dwarf Flax, oil on linen, 37" x 29"
Patti Trimble, Sphinx Moth, oil on canvas, 9" x 12"
A few years ago, I began to think of the environmental crises as a crises of the imagination.
I couldn’t really imagine the scope of global degradation; so of course I couldn’t imagine what to do about it. And worse, I was unable to “imagine” the complexity of my own watershed and the changes affecting it. I thought: I need pictures, images to explain the science facts I “know”. Only then will I stop imagining I am not involved.
So in 2010, I began painting local endangered species. I collected information and species lists. I studied photographs, the only way to see most of the species. I walked trails I’d known for fifty years, slowly understanding—and mourning—the changes.
I don’t know where this study will lead me. What has surprised me is the effect of wild places and species on the way I think. There is a meshing of intuition, science, and a childlike innocence and wonder. I am stunned at life’s complexity and fragility. Maybe that’s what it takes. To accept being stunned, and to keep thinking—seriously, responsibly—from inside the whorl.
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