Jill Pelto’s piece Landscape of Change combines bright, sweeping reds with swirling deep blues and spaces of white—each created in the effect of a texture. Simply looking at this watercolor painting, one can tell that the piece has many layers, both in color and texture. From the right corner of the page, Pelto evokes the depth of the ocean. Emerging from the waves, a glacial shelf rises to the bottom left, just a bit lighter in color, but clearly distinguished in texture. Division between earth and air is created by bright red, almost reminiscent of a fire. Finally, air spans the upper right space, but not quite, because surprisingly Pelto created something far from just air—she created a trend. In fact each element in her painting is a graph, scientific data gathered and then formed into a painting. Her sweeping skies and air are, in fact a graphical representation of the rise in fossil fuel use, and the deep blue ocean underlies a graph of the rise in sea levels.
In each of Pelto’s artworks, she incorporates links of the actual graphs she uses. Looking into these graphs, it is clear that there can be many, and at times might be deceiving or too dense. One of the sources she offers from NASA, showcases a large file of a 2015 global analysis. The graph incorporated into the red, fiery peaks represents El Niño and Global Temperature dating back to 1980. Even thinking back to our lecture, there are many aspects involved in climate change. While it may be difficult for us to combine this information when viewing them from a variety of sources, Pelto’s art allows us to view each element visually and perhaps even be more affected by the landscape rather than a series of numbers.
Image taken from:
http://www.jillpelto.com/landscape-of-change
Works Cited:
Schmidt, Gavin A, and Thomas R Karl. “Annual Global Analysis for 2015.” NASA/ NOAA, Jan. 2016, www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/noaa_nasa_global_analysis_2015.pdf.
