WALTER WICKISER GALLERY, INC. PRESENTS A VIRTUAL EXHIBITION

LAUREN JONES WORTH

IN THE ARTSY.NET VIEWING ROOM

Clouds are ethereal and dreamlike. The clouds I paint appear to be the result of natural phenomena. At first glance, here is the decorative bounty of nature, buoyant clouds, jewel-colored birds and insects floating effortlessly in the air. But look more closely…why do the birds have no heads? Is that a fluke of nature or a chemically caused aberration? Are we seeing bits of wildlife blasted by a man-made explosion? Are the clouds a symptom of atmospheric damage?

BLOWN AWAY, 50x34 in., mixed collage on canvas, 2023

July 2023 was the hottest month in recorded history due to a combination

of natural phenomenon such as El Niño and human-caused climate

change. Scientists have long warned that an accelerated warming climate

caused by CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels will make heatwaves

more frequent, severe, and deadly. Throw in Canadian and Hawaiian

wildfires, torrential rains in the northeast, the annual threat of hurricanes in

the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, severe drought in Texas and Louisiana,

and we helped to create our summer of atmospheric discontent.

Are we fiddling “while Rome burns” and destroying the only planet that

gives us life? When looking more closely at my paintings, are the clouds a

symptom of atmospheric damage or the aftermath of a manmade

explosion with bits and pieces of wildlife and foliage blowing in the wind?

The title also implies the way I go about “fiddling” with found imagery:

cutting and combining realistic images from magazines and other printed

material, then morphing them into something entirely different and

otherworldly. My goal is to encourage closer observation of the natural

world hopefully kindling a stronger interest in our fragile ecosystem and

the desire to protect it. Although the paintings carry a serious message,

they have a decorative, ornamental, and peaceful sensibility much like the

peace and tranquility we find in nature. I found inspiration for this series of

paintings in one of my favorite periods in Art History called Pattern and

Decoration (P&D), an intense, avant garde movement originating in New

York City that spanned the early 70’s to the mid 80’s.

WE FIDDLE WHILE ROME BURNS I, 50x34 in., mixed collage on canvas, 2023

WE FIDDLE WHILE ROME BURNS II, 50x34 in., mixed collage on canvas, 2023

WWG Artsy Viewing Room:

https://www.artsy.net/viewing-room/walter-wickiser-gallery-lauren-jones-worth-we-fiddle-while-rome-burns