MaryAnn Camps
Since her inclusion in the first Nuit Noire exhibition at Cube Gallery in 2011, MaryAnn Camps’ focus has been the paradoxical beauty of light emitted by cities at night. Working with a palette knife and acrylic on wood panel, she depicts aerial views of cities at night, exploring their abstract forms and the issues of urban sprawl and light pollution.
artist statementI am interested in issues surrounding urbanism: sustainability, density, light pollution, public transit and public space. In my artistic practice, my current focus is aerial views of the dazzling forms of cities at night. I invite the viewer to consider the tremendous amount of light we emit and the implications of light pollution. At the same time, I explore the beautiful, varied organic structure of the world’s biggest cities and, by extension, how we organize ourselves as urban beings. The paintings invite comparisons between these cities and the factors that shaped their development. They invite comparisons to other organic structures, both vast, such as star systems, and small, such as microscopic organisms. They invite us to consider our place in the universe.
I work with a palette knife to build up multiple, rich layers of acrylic: the resulting pentimento implies the energy, movement, and vibration of human activity. While the paintings stand on their own as abstract works, verisimilitude is critical to the integrity of the work.
I celebrate the world’s cities and reveal their paradoxical beauty while asking how we can make them vibrant, sustainable, and smartly lit.
Price Range: $500 - $4,000
