ARTIST STATEMENT

Earth, sky and water are very exciting. When these elemental forces combine, beautiful and sublime things happen. My egg tempura paintings are pictures of the forces that give shape to my favorite places—Kachemak Bay--Alaska--the Pacific Ocean. Under the pressure of development many of our places are changing rapidly or just plain being rubbed out.

"It’s time to look again at where we come from and where we dwell."

Snowsnake

My work focuses on the dynamics of place. The drama of dwelling is intensified in liminal places--where earth and sky meet; where water and land interact. Add weather to this equation and intense things begin to happen.

For example, in the high latitudes ice is a constant presence. Transformations of elemental forces reshape the land and life. Consider that water acts as land when it is frozen. Land is colder than water in the winter. And so, when the water freezes everything gets exponentially colder.

"Snowsnake is a painting about this phenomenon as it unfolded during the winter of 2006 in south central Alaska’s Cook Inlet."

The upper inlet froze over and the lower inlet remained open. Frigid air rushed down the slope of Denali, North America’s highest peak, and out onto the ice of the inlet. When this incredibly cold air hit the warm water of the lower inlet, the result was snow, snow out of a cloudless sky. Narrow bands of this snow snaked across the inlet to the south week after week, sometimes making landfall in one place, and sometimes in another. Frequently this snowsnake crept up the Anchor River valley of the Kenai Peninsula where I live. Unpredicted deep snows ensued.

Those who love to ski, as I do, reveled in this good luck. What better combination could one ask for in the Far North than deep, dry snow from a clear sky?

This painting is but one record of the endless cycle of topography affecting microclimate and climate shaping topography that adds daily drama to the project of living in place. It is an attempt to share my experience of the beautiful and the sublime.

Ikpikpuk River Headwaters

My method of painting is very slow. It is also meditative. So it gives me a long time to reflect on the subject I am painting. Maybe there’s some kind of voodoo in the dots, because when I have finished a piece, somehow I have fallen in love with the place--not the painting--but the place itself. By drawing on everything in my experience and imagination about a place --including sensations, history, lore, emotions, and desire-- I transport myself to another world. That world knows no politics, no scarcity, no hierarchy. It just is. It unfolds before me in the sinuous curves of the universe and in the colors brought down to us from the sky.

Terra Incognita

Gallery Representation

Federation Gallery, 1241 Cartwright Street, Vancouver BC V6H 4B7
Bunnell Street Gallery, Suite 106A, Bunnell Street, Homer, Alaska 99603

Mann Gulch Fire

Mystery Sheen

Homestead

Beluga

Painting Exhibitions

Juried Solo Exhibit, Bear Gallery, Fairbanks, Alaska 2007
International Juried Group Exhibit, Painting on the Edge, Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, BC, 2007
Juried Group Exhibit, Alaska Hummingbird Festival, Ketchikan, Alaska, 2007, Award
Juried Group Exhibit, Pratt Museum Juried Art Show, Award, 2006
Juried Group Exhibit, All Alaska Exhibit, Anchorage Museum of Art and History, 2006
Invitational Group Exhibit, “Topologies”, Galeria Galou, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC, 2004
Juried Solo Exhibit, Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, Alaska, 2003
Juried Group Exhibit, Pratt Museum Juried Art Show, 2004
Invitational Group Exhibit, “Water” by Bunnell Street Gallery, Homer, Alaska, 2003
Invitational Group Exhibit, “Wetlands” by Pratt Museum, Homer, Alaska, 2003
Juried Group Exibit, Kenai Arts Center, Kenai, Alaska 2003 (Juror’s Choice)
Invitational Group Exhibit, Resurrection Bay Galerie, Seward, Alaska, 2002
Juried Group Exhibit, Pratt Museum Juried Art Show, 2002
Juried Group Exhibit, All Alaska Exhibit, Anchorage Museum of Art and History, 2002
Juried Group Exhibit, Louisville Center for the Arts, Louisville, Colorado, 2001
Invitational Group Exhibit, Resurrection Bay Galerie, Seward, Alaska, 2001
Juried Group Exhibit, Pratt Museum, Homer, Alaska, 2000
Juried Group Exhibit, All Alaska Exhibit, Anchorage Museum of Art and History, 2000
Juried Group Exhibit, Valdez Museum, Valdez, Alaska, 1999
Juried Group Exhibit, Bunnell Street Gallery, Homer, Alaska, 1999 (honorable mention)
Juried Solo Exhibit, Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, Alaska, 1999
Juried Group Exhibit: Pratt Museum, Homer, Alaska, 1998
Juried Group Exhibit; All Alaska Exhibit, Anchorage Museum of Art and History, 1998
Non-Juried Group Exhibit; Downtown Bistro, Homer, Alaska, l998
Juried Solo Exhibit, Bunnell Street Gallery, Homer, Alaska, 1997
Juried Group Exhibit; Pratt Museum, Homer, Alaska, 1997
Juried Solo Exhibit; Ptarmigan Arts, Homer, Alaska, 1997
Juried Solo Exhibit; Perspectives Gallery, Blacksburg, Virginia, 1995
Non-juried Solo Exhibit; College of Architecture and Urban Studies, VPI&SU, 1995
Juried Group Exhibit, Blacksburg, Virginia, 1995 (juror’s award)

Artist Residence/Instruction

Otter Beach School, Homer, Alaska, K-3, October 2004
Kachemak Selo, Alaska, K-12, April 2004
Vosnesenka, Alaska, K-12, March 2003
Paul Banks Elementary, Homer, Alaska PreK-3, Oct. 2001
McNeil Canyon Elementary, Fritz Creek, Alaska, K-6, Sept. 2001
Homer Middle School, Homer, Alaska, Grades 7-8, May 1998
Various Volunteer Days with schools and groups, 1997-present

Barrow Beach

Contacting the Artist

Deland Anderson
134 Mt View Drive
Homer, Alaska 99603

Tel: (907) 235-7804
email: deland@xyz.net