Artist Statement
Landscape is not a genre of art but a medium...a medium of exchange between the human and the natural, the self and the other...Landscape is a scene meditated by culture, it is both represented and presented space, both a signifier and a signified, both frame and what a frame contains, both a real place and its simulacrum... W.J.T. MITCHELL My current studio projects focus on experience as a means to examine the convergence of adventure, art, and place. The drawing, print, and artist book work I create are influenced by various outdoor activities, ranging from long distance cycling trips to backcountry ski tours and extended wilderness treks. The resulting work exists as an indexical record of my travels relating to the abstract and physical facets of landscape. This practice engages the human body as a vehicle for expression, while exploring ways nature and the landscape can potentially influence me both visually and physically. Given the long history of artists who have created work about nature and the environment, part of my artistic practice is centered on finding new ways to respond to nature today. Bio
Michael Baum is an interdisciplinary print-based artist who has spent the last three decades exploring numerous mountain ranges, including Wyoming’s Tetons, the Cascades, and the Alaska Range. His prints have been featured in national exhibitions at venues such as the Intersect Arts Center in St. Louis, Missouri, Nona Jean Hulsey Gallery at Oklahoma City University, and Remarque/New Grounds Print Workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Notably, his work has been showcased in the South Dakota Governor's Biennial Exhibitions and is housed in public collections like the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Oregon, the Boise Art Museum, Idaho, and the Museum of Art/WSU in Washington state. Michael holds an MFA from Washington State University and currently serves as an Associate Professor of Studio Art at Black Hills State University. He is a past recipient of career development grants from the South Dakota Arts Council, funded by The National Endowment for the Arts to support his artistic projects. |
© 2024 Michael Baum