Mars Revisited, pt. 1
Opportunity at Perseverance Valley
Opportunity at Perseverance Valley 2018 | watercolor on paper | 39.25" x 12.75"
OUT THERE, everything is in a state of flux, and so it is on the inside.
I know better than to try to be controlling of that process. It has to play out. It has to evolve. It has to be discovered as much as it is created, coaxed, and directed.
There’s a point in the act of creation where you have to allow things to take shape without external influence, at least for me. Putting them into the world too early interrupts the flow and concretizes them before they have a chance to define themselves.
And so while I work on new things, both in written and visual form, I thought I’d share some older work. You know, to keep the momentum going, but also so we can all get to know each other better.
First up is a small body of ethereal watercolor paintings depicting Martian landscapes called Mars Revisited that I created in 2018. Here’s what I wrote about them on my portfolio site:
Following a busy Fall of 2017 in which I had a time-consuming freelance project plus was preparing for and hosting my first studio exhibit in the Austin Studio Tour, I wanted to escape to work that was quiet and re-energizing. I've long had an interest in planetary sciences and space exploration, and I decided to focus on recent exploration of Mars (which at the time I did not feel was receiving the attention it deserved considering the significance of human exploration of the surface of another planet). I opted for dreamy, meditative surfaces created from watercolor washes, intentionally eschewing any sort of "rigor" in execution or form—a corporate jargon word that I'd had my fill of and that had infiltrated the academia-centric art world. I researched NASA resources heavily, and compositions were pulled directly from NASA imagery and then stylized and simplified. Composite images created extreme horizontals with sometimes jagged edges that I honored in the paintings. Titles refer to the rover and the location that the imagery was drawn from, or they were conceived to mimic the grandiosity of NASA's naming conventions. Creating this series had the effect I hoped for of offering an energetic reset, both soothing and mentally stimulating. Though I had a stack of research and other ideas for paintings, this series ended when I became busy with freelance work again. In the time since, there have been many developments in the exploration of Mars, and it periodically beckons to me to return.
I had only been making art intentionally for a little over a year after taking a break for close to 20, and I was feeling my way back in, just immersing into the medium and the practice. The wet-on-wet approach at large scales required working fast, just enough time to get into a meditative state. My brain was full of facts and information and stimuli from life and giving myself permission and space to indulge in a subject I love and a process that required me to let go of control and allow the paint and water do its thing helped me find my center.
It's something I need to remember and harness at this moment in history.
I’ve started creating short videos featuring the paintings in this series for YouTube (it’s a different audience and another way to take in and process information, and editing has become a part of my creative toolbox as I stretch myself into a new skill). This Substack post stands alone and also compliments the video, just as the video stands alone but also compliments this writing. Both compliment the painting. They all work together, like interlocking parts. I’m into that concept of interconnectedness in what I create and in life.
Here's the first video, which features the painting above, titled Opportunity at Perseverance Valley.
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I was interested in this image from the NASA archives because it’s some of the first photographic documentation we have of humans physically altering an alien planet, similar to Neil Armstrong’s footprint on the Moon. The potential for expanding our understanding of ourselves and our place in the Universe, and how we came to exist, is as vast as the night sky. Despite sometimes controversial perspectives about space exploration, especially in a time of major upheaval on our own planet, I remain a strong supporter of pure planetary science. Many don’t agree, and that’s fine. We don’t all have to agree on everything all the time. But in comparison to expenditures elsewhere (like say, funding unjust wars or enabling extreme wealth disparities), the costs that go towards space exploration are negligible. I am however a strong proponent of being conscious and judicious of our impacts both here on Earth and the places we visit.
As we begin to explore and have a presence beyond our own planet, it is important to remember the mess we have made on Earth, and to take extra caution to avoid a similar track elsewhere (even while we continually strive to improve and rebalance our footprint on the Earth and its planetary systems, which includes biological life… a.k.a. us.) There’s a lot to be concerned about all around.
But the awe of nature and the vastness that we are just one small, interconnected part of still takes my breath away. These paintings and their subject matter still feel relevant to me, maybe more so, as the powers that be work to subvert the integrity of the sciences along with everything else.
If you’re so inclined you can learn more about the Opportunity rover and mission and what we have learned from it so far (the mission may have ended, but the learning has not), on this NASA landing page.
I submitted this painting to the 5th Annual ArtSpace111 Regional Juried Exhibition in Fort Worth, Texas, juried by then editor-in-chief of Glasstire Christina Rees, and was accepted into the show. Here’s 2018 me standing in front of the installed painting (the angle of the photo is wonky; the painting was straight on the wall):
As I create and add new videos to YouTube for each painting in the series, I’ll share new posts with information about each one here. But for now, if you’d like to see all the paintings, you can find them on my portfolio site.
More from this series:
This Writing Force Within is an exploration in creativity and living from artist and writer Lisa Rawlinson.
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