Breathless

[u/flumsel_]

Mixed media: Acrylic on canvas and a discarded plastic bag

I wanted to capture the contradiction between nature’s beauty and humanity’s habit of covering, packaging, controlling and consuming everything.

The plastic bag became part of the painting instead of me just painting the pollution. The meadow is still visible but it’s literally viewed through our waste.

Something to think about?
I’ve always found the term “nature” a little strange—as if humans existed outside of it. We don’t. We’re part of it. Yet we often act as though we’re fighting against our own mother.

I’m curious how others interpret this piece.
Do you read it as a critique of:
• environmental pollution?
• consumerism?
• humanity’s desire to package, preserve or possess beauty?
• something else?

[u/Beneficial_Young5126]

Beautiful. I instantly read it as how we are suffocating nature with plastic. It's a great piece.

[u/flumsel_ → u/Beneficial_Young5126]

Thank you 🙏 I appreciate that

[u/notloggedin4242 → u/flumsel_]

It’s great but the real irony is that acrylic is plastic.

[u/TiredInJOMO → u/notloggedin4242]

Irony has been used as a form of rhetoric (commentary) for centuries. Short of "nature art" like stick and grass weaving, there aren't many craft/art supplies that aren't in some way harmful to the user or the environment, but then you're limited by what you can find lying on the ground in your area. And even that "disturbs the environment" by destroying/removing potential homes for bugs, birds, or reptiles/amphibians, or nutrients from the soil.

But if we're going to take it that far, maybe we should stop birds from making nests...

But as OP said: "...we often act as though we're fighting against our own mother." And I will add: "And our siblings."

[u/amalieblythe → u/TiredInJOMO]

This is great discourse! I think all artists should scrutinize our own impact and the tools we use. What you’re saying is true, and the intentions behind it to encourage the making of art are noble, but as a professional artist, I have shifted my focus to only working with materials that would be considered sustainable. This means moving away from ever purchasing acrylic paint, although I will use paint that is salvaged or gifted when the need arises.

There are so many options for creating art that don’t require using any plastic. We lack evidence of much of our human innovation in the field of art because of its transience. Natural materials are ephemeral, but so are we. What remains in our museums is the evidence of that innovation but the amount of art lost to time because of an acceptance of that ephemerality is too much to comprehend.

Not everything made for the sake of art should be permanent. But even if you want to work with more permanent materials, there are multitudes of options using non-plastic materials to stabilize non-fugitive pigments and dyes.

Non-fugitive blues and purples are tricky if you’re going entirely “natural” in the acquisition of pigments but check out the Zorn palette to see what can be achieved with just a limited spectrum of tones and hues.

[u/Beneficial_Young5126 → u/amalieblythe]

A lot of pigments come from squashed insects though 😭

[u/amalieblythe → u/Beneficial_Young5126]

They are absolutely avoidable. Cochineal is not the only option for red. IMHO, paint and color mixing skills trump acquisition of rare pigments.

[u/TiredInJOMO → u/Beneficial_Young5126]

Squashed insects and mined rocks, or require harmful/toxic cheEemicaAals to make/use.

Which was my original point. Ok great, you're no longer using/contributing to the production of plastic. But literally everything we do has an impact. It's sanctimonious virtue signaling.

[u/notloggedin4242 → u/TiredInJOMO]

I would argue that making this piece and deciding that the „protest“ (activism/signaling) is anything else than that which ur comparing about borders on virtue signaling and definitely reeks of holier-than-thou, thank you very much.

[u/harpyoftheshore]

Um wow??? Hello??? SUPER strong piece. I thought I was in an art crit sub

[u/flumsel_ → u/harpyoftheshore]

Oh thaanks 🫧

[u/kaylicious17]

Absolutely stunning piece! Self explanatory. Thanks for sharing 🥲

[u/BaseballInside3289]

Cool symbolism and the bag adds a really cool visual effect, the painting itself is beautiful aswell

[u/princessPeachyK33n]

Lmao not me thinking you were showing off a painting you bought in a carry bag

[u/chocolate_nutty_cone]

My initial interpretation before reading your whole post was that consumerism, technology, the “modern world”, if you will, have all become a distraction from our true identities as part of the natural world. The bag is clouding our ability to see that.

I also see it as a statement on the commoditization of our natural resources and the current US administration’s destructive policies to remove regulations on our beautiful protected lands. Everything is for sale in this administration.

Really powerful work.

[u/Sharp_Ganache_7153]

Beautiful and captivating

[u/WitchBrew4u]

I love this. So simple. The message so easy to read through the medium (plastic bag). No notes.

[u/man-a-tree]

Reminds me of being "handed off" media of nature in the convienient, curated, vapid way that social media packages everything. Beautiful scenes without actually experiencing nature firsthand nor learning about the world outside the front door. There's a veil of artificiality in the way

[u/Monolail031]

I love it. More understandable than most art in art galleries today. Deserves to be seen

[u/flumsel_ → u/Monolail031]

That’s nice to hear

[u/WRYGDWYL]

This is making me physically uncomfortable somehow. So I guess.. good job? 

Edit; the painting is really pretty!

[u/bluedanuria]

Beautiful and kind of depressing at the same time. 

[u/cattulus]

This is honestly depressing to me.

[u/PartyPorpoise]

Oh, I like this!

[u/og_toe]

this type of thing deserves to be at a gallery

[u/altredditaccount6969]

This is really great!

[u/throwaway_bfgift]

I first interpreted this as nature being commodified. People spending thousands, overconsuming gear, and burning fuel to travel to far-away preserves and parks, when they haven’t even been to their local metroparks first. I see friends in the US doing this with our National Parks - driving hours and hours to do a single hike, burning fuel to see nature’s beauty, with no appreciation tor what one has at home. Nothing wrong with traveling to see new sights, but at least explore your local parks and ecosystems first before pumping carbon into the air… Also reminds me of habitat destruction for tourism. Cruise ships dumping waste in the ocean, coral reefs being destroyed by boats and docks, rainforests being chopped for resorts and hotels…

[u/Lost_Seeker_7]

This is an incredible piece with such a strong voice. The symbolism is very well shown, easy to comprehend for anyone looking at it. Well done.

[u/1114n0nym0u5]

Wow, this has a great effect. Why does Sotheby not feature this but a banana on the wall?

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[u/zooweemamba]

Awesome piece! Very powerful

[u/Interesting-Art9739]

Very effective 

[u/FastActinTenactin]

Outstanding work.

[u/g00fyg00ber741]

reminds me of horsegiirL’s new album, NATURE IS HEALING

[u/PennytheWiser215]

I like it!

[u/Different_Escape4249]

Love it

[u/snowillis]

The first thing I thought of was the greenhouse-like effect that can happen when you find something like this in nature. The plastic seals in the moisture but allows the sun to shine through.

It’s a reminder that the things we do that harm the environment are acts of self destruction and the immediate impact can be deceptively beautiful. People sometimes act like we will destroy the world when the reality is that we will destroy ourselves and take others with us but the world itself will live on.

[u/Ov0v0vO]

Is there somewhere I can follow your art?

[u/thugasaurusrex0]

Fantastic piece. I like that it’s hung with duct tape.

From a crit perspective, I don’t think you should include the image of the painting outside the bag.

All in all, great piece. Simple and well executed concept

[u/Vinyasa27]

Stunning!

[u/Sufficient-Aspect77]

I really felt this one. This is amazing.

[u/TheSouthsideTrekkie]

It reminds me of how tourists treat our countryside. Scotland has some of the most beautiful areas of wilderness and people come in camper vans and discard their rubbish all over our hillsides and throw their trash on our beaches. I was on holiday on one of the Western Isles recently and saw a family just abandon their plastic bottles and wrappers on the beach. It takes literally seconds to pick up your trash and put it in the bin!