Gary Buch
Amongst the Alps II, oil on panel, 48” x 56”
My painting process is a response to witnessing massive glacial recession amidst global climate change. Devolving mountain beauty illustrated by an erosion of paint. My work emerges from a lifestyle that uploads alpine and forest imagery. My interest lies in the struggle to arrive at a sustainable image, abandoning its mounting history, leaving a sense of insight and possibilities. Mapping the essence of mountains without illustration, but rather a portraiture of immersion in the mountain process, akin to ideoplastic rendering or what is known versus what is seen. Physically, painting aims to make sense of life. The art is of building an image just shy of a goal only to endure the provocation of a new direction. The inert pile of paint mounds the floor until the surviving material speaks of a new believable image complete with its own sense of history that I can finally trust. The construction of an image leaves hints of locations buried in the legacy of the process. I am not seeking comfort or compliance, but rather insight on how to structure, anchor and ultimately live my life.
— Gary Buch
