Illuminations

Paul C. Blake captures the discordant harmony of nature through shifting planes and transparent hues, mapping a luminous wilderness clouded by the haze of wildfire. Under a lemon-yellow sky, out-of-scale avian figures merge seamlessly into the grassy mountainsides they inhabit. This spatial ambiguity destabilizes the landscape, trapping a solitary butterfly behind crossing trails of flame. As giant birds gaze outward with urgency, Blake uses a Cubist-inflected fragmentation of space to build a visual testament to the climate crisis, rooting his intuitive vision of the natural world in deep layers of shape, color, and texture.