Statement: Diane Bronstein
What Lies Beneath
The invisible battle between nature and humanity is becoming visible. While our cities and suburbs continue to grow, thrive and then decay, nature seeks out the weak spots and attempts to gain control.
A decade ago, “decay porn”, photographs of buildings and structures in ruin, became popular. Beautiful shots of sunlight streaming through broken roofs, architectural details covered in clinging flora or houses engulfed by water, sand or surrounding forests were seemingly everywhere on social and mass media. People sought out beauty in destruction, as long as it didn’t affect them directly.
Since that time, we’ve become more aware of nature’s response to our misuse of the planet. How many “storms of the century” or millions of acres lost to fire need to occur before we wake up to what we’ve done to our world?
The theme of my work is to imagine a world where nature dominates, but we choose to ignore. Lava breaks through roads, wild vines crawl over buildings, trees grow in the middle of rooms. In my work, people walk through their environments, unaware of the attempt of nature to heal.
With both vintage and original black and white photos, I envision these fractured scenes. Through collage, I break the perspective. Streets abruptly run into buildings, light and shadow move in the same scene. At first glance, the scenes appear “normal”, but soon reveal the absurdity. I embroider in bold colors the natural elements onto the man-made structures. The embroidery, sometimes over an inch thick, adds texture and depth to the scenes.
I want my work to have that juxtaposition of humor and dread; that feeling that something’s not quite right, but no one seems concerned. I’m afraid that we’re all guilty of this when it comes to how our world is trying to right itself from humanity’s damage. I just hope that there’s enough time left to correct our faults.