Artist Conversation #1

Artist: Amanda Quinlan
Exhibition: unknown
Media: Oil Paint
Gallery: LBSU School of Art, Gatov Gallery East

Amanda Quinlan is a student at California State University, Long Beach, who in this piece, explored the theme of fog and its ability to defamiliarize, obscure, and alter perceptions. I forgot to ask what School of Art she was in but I would assume Drawing and Painting because on the website “https://www.csulb.edu/college-of-the-arts/art-design-events”, her name is listed under Drawing and Painting as the focus in her art show. She is into photography which helped her create this art piece as she took archived photos from a natural gas site, and combined her own photos of the site to create this painting. Her work explores the ideas of the importance of natural gas sites in a negative way as they pollute the environment and change the way nature is around the site.

This painting is composed of primarily green and blue oil paints that are very vivid and scream at the viewer. They scream at the viewer even more because of the fact that the canvas was large causing the colors to stand out more. The painting had elements of abstract and realism where there was a balance in between both to portray the large green natural gas plants. The green seemed to infect the clean blue as it spilled into the water and went into the sky. The painting seemed very rough due to buildings where the metal was accentuated by the green. It also had a lot of shapes because the buildings would be cut off in certain parts by the colors making it look sharp and jagged.

This painting is about the importance of the damage that natural gas sites have on the environment where they infect the surroundings through pollution in the air, water, and land. This painting is a combination of many photos throughout its existence where currently it is under construction. She chose to put the painting on such a large canvas because as a person, we can relate to it better because we both have a similar size. Many times, we relate better to those who are more similar to us and for this reason, she chose such a large canvas. She was stating how the color makes an overpowering experience for the viewer to help them truly realize the importance of the plant. The main idea the artist was exploring was that natural gas sites cause so much harm and she used strategic techniques to help the reader discover the meaning behind the painting and relate to it better.

Living in Long Beach, whenever I go Downtown, I see the port of Long Beach and all the toxic smoke that is being released into the air. I saw a similar idea in this painting where the natural gas site had a very big impact on the environment. Green can symbolize sickness and I saw that through the green buildings that could be said to be infecting its surroundings. In a way the green made me feel sick because I felt worried for the blue sky and water that looked to be clean. The port of Long Beach has existed for many years and over time it has had an importance in the environment such as the pollution in West Long Beach. Being that the painting was comprised of various photos throughout the history of the natural gas site, I was able to resonate with it because it showed something that was close to me and has had an impact on my life in some way. The size and the colors drew my attention because it was the biggest and brightest thing in the room. The message behind the painting drew my attention even more as I often see in person what was in the painting making me relate to the work to a greater extent.