Darren Sears

Lives and works in San Francisco, CA, USA

Artist statement

I am captivated by sharp edges and contrasts in the natural world, and the slivers of distinct ecological or geological character that they define. Complex vegetational zonation patterns, tiny cinder cones and craters, small or prominent islands of various kinds, and bits of nature surrounded by human-dominated landscapes seem like downsized and “tamed” versions of entities and phenomena we typically think of as overwhelming in scale or force—like continent-scale climate patterns, boundless wilderness areas, or massive volcanoes. Compressed in this way they seem accessible and “knowable,” giving me an exhilarating and empowering “world-at-my-fingertips” feeling. I heighten this feeling by compressing and structuring these conditions even further in artwork—or as I prefer to call it, cartography. Sharpening and shrinking these geographical slivers necessarily requires zooming out (and up) beyond them, capturing their spatial context. My “fractured” watercolor compositions piece together multiple ground-level perspectives based on my own travel photography, mixed in with aerial views; the works emphasize the spatial relationships between scenes rather than the individual scenes themselves. In fact, I find the process of painting in the pieces to be less engaging than working out how they fit together. Thanks to its immersive element, the multi-dimensionality of the composite places can be taken in not just from “above” it all, in one all-encompassing impression, but also by...

Artwork