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Photos of the painting process (5)
1media/a382ac8d-0368-47d8-a31d-31b2a1f90f29_thumb.jpg2023-12-19T20:11:37+00:00Sarah Elizabeth Fernandez251af6c919fe6928d59af99064f2158055be015f11plain2023-12-19T20:11:37+00:00Sarah Elizabeth Fernandez251af6c919fe6928d59af99064f2158055be015f
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1media/Pedernal_Mountain,_NM.jpgmedia/Pedernal_Mountain,_NM.jpg2023-12-19T19:53:30+00:00Visualizing the Deterioration of Nature10By Sarah Elizabeth Fernandezimage_header2024-01-09T17:12:18+00:00
The Project
This painting is a replica of Georgia O'Keeffe's The Pedernal. The painting is of the Cerro Pedernal, which is a mesa in north-central New Mexico. Throughout her career, O'Keefe captured the landscape of New Mexico, showing close attention to preserving nature. I share a similar care for protecting nature, and wanted this project to raise awareness of the negative impact of energy on the natural world.
Therefore, I selected a data set on CO2 emissions in the U.S. per year. The left side of the painting is representative of 1941: the year O'Keeffe painted The Pedernal. The right side reflects 2021, which saw an increase in carbon emissions of 146% relative to 1941. To represent that change, I used this percentage in crystallization filter on Photoshop, applying it to The Pedernal. From there, I created an acrylic painting that shows how carbon emissions are rising in the U.S. These emissions distort the purity of our natural world.
