Tom Yglesias

Lives and works in Novato, CA, USA

Artist statement

EARTH STRATA UPLIFT AND EROSION see at www.landviews.net This photographic work focuses on the Earth's Strata. In particular the Earth's outer most layer, the lithosphere - the tectonic plates that move and rise up to be mountains and then erode back down to be plains. This interaction between the forces of uplift and erosion are on constant display and are literally the greatest show on Earth. These works document the features of this process as found in land's fractures, cracks, rock falls, weathering, running water, etc.. The works also reveal that these earth elements can have a strong visual vitality, especially when paired together. The work is a glimpse at the endless variety of land and earth architecture - granite, shale and minerals of all types in layers of strata, as it is cracked and broken down into slabs and blocks that fall away into vast fields of rock and rubble. Each picture is a revelation of a complex reality with associations that are beyond our comprehension, creating a sense of wonder and mystery. Abstraction is evoked by the play and interest generated by the many land elements thrown together - terraces and strata, blocks and slabs, colors and stains, cervices and cracks. The Surrealism of Rene Magritte is always present in the mysterious and silent granite, that at times can seem to be floating in an empty sky. The connection to American Indian Art (Navajo, Hopi, etc.) is easily seen in the geometry of the strata and the variety of earth colors....

Artwork