Thursday, July 16, 2009

Iowa Art - Regionalist Landscape


2. Regionalist Landscape
This piece is a tactile representation of farm fields. Raised, curved lines represent undulating hills of fields.

The depiction of a winding country road begins at the bottom, left corner of the frame. The width of the road becomes narrower as it extends toward the top, right and curving back toward the left side. The road represents the concept of "convergence". The width becomes narrower to demonstrate that items appear smaller the farther they are from the observer.

At the bottom, left side of the picture, a child is walking down the road using a cane and leading a piglet on a rope. The child is wearing overalls and a straw hat. This element is made from bronze.

On the left side of the picture is a large poplar tree. The trunk is made of slate and the remaining tree is made of cherry wood. Depressions in the wood are used for an abstract representation of leaves.

A farmhouse and barn with trees appears in the top, left horizon. These items are made of bronze. Their small size reflects their distance from the observer.

Features on the right side of the picture show rows of cabbage. In the foreground, the cabbage is both larger and more realistic in representation. As rows of cabbage recede into the distance, they become smaller and more abstract. Slate is used for both the hills and the rows of cabbage.

A farmhouse with two poplar trees appears near the top right side of the picture. The farmhouse is made of bronze and the trees are made of cherry wood.

A plowed field and a man with a horse-drawn plow appears toward the middle of the picture. The plowed field is made of etched slate, and the man, horse, and plow are made of bronze.

In the top middle, an abstract of three birds in flight are etched into the slate representing the sky.

The Regionalist Landscape piece is a companion to the Contour Map. Both depict the same landscape from different perspectives, one on the ground and one from the air.


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