Kevin Bell
Gallery Affiliations: Gallery Jones
Region: West
Website: http://www.kevinjackbell.com
City / State: missoula, MT
The trace of human intervention is common in the landscape.
Our view of nature cannot be wide-angle or unbroken, as it is
crowded with discordant elements that often contradict and
muddy our perceptions and expectations. We instead experience
our surroundings selectively, filtering out what is not necessary,
ignoring what is irrelevant. Through this process of filtering,
we perceive the landscape not as a whole, but as a collection of
instances, fragments, specimens, and objects.
Often what I notice and select is dependent on the presence of a
manmade element. The curve of a hill or the texture of vegetation
is most visible when it is marked, divided, or plotted. Such
markers also situate the viewer: they offer scale and context.
Despite significant differences in value and worth assigned to
each, nature and human activities are oddly interdependent.
Together, they form fragments floating through our field of vision.