Eric Diehl
I’d rather not be indoors while painting, so usually I paint
scenarios I long for.
Over the past several years, I have embarked on three bicycle
tours exploring 4,000 miles of American desert and coastline,
seeking time away from the spectacle of society as well as
learning to be quiet in nature. In presenting these distinctly North
American landscapes and playscapes, I imagine distant human
pasts as well as potentially distant futures.
However, the landscapes do not exist on their own, as American
cinema influences the way I see them. Even when I discover a new
place, I feel like I am remembering a scene I once saw in a movie.
For me, the vast expanses of the western states recall spaghetti
westerns, model train worlds, constructed dioramas, and the
injustice of Manifest Destiny.
Through the pure wonderment and geology of these landscapes, I
construct my own set pieces and myths.