Scott Bell
Region: MFA Annual
My paintings and sculptural assemblages address the
concept of the ideal suburb and the notion of domesticating
the natural world. I offer a sense of self-reflection that turns
viewers’ attention inward to slow down their understanding of
surrounding landscapes, and to question life in conjunction with
the environment. Ideas of isolation are ever-present in my work.
The aim is not to engage feelings of sadness, but to generate
an invitation to contemplate empathetic interpretations of
banality. A sense of absurdity is generated by combinations of the
illusionary and the raw, while the work in a larger sense provides
awareness of our navigation of the natural and constructed
landscape. The method for depicting this is serious, but selfaware,
illustrating the contrasts and complementariness of the
two realms.