Twice Removed statement

The paintings in this series continue my fascination with the role of digital technology in contemporary life. Technology has changed forever how we experience life and gives us access to information 24/7 so that ‘downtime’, contemplation and quietude are seemingly things of the past. It seems our entire view of life is filtered in some way through technology.

For these works, I enlisted the collaboration of friends, mainly through networking groups or social media to source the images for the paintings. It was a challenging exercise to obtain enough interesting and varied material that would translate well into paintings and hang together as a cohesive body of work.

My previous landscapes have used my own photos taken from the car or train in transit presenting a disconnection from the landscape as I rushed past. I wanted to take this disconnection one step further, and in many instances not only have I not taken the source photograph but I have never been to the place photographed.

In these works, I sought contributions and permission to use the images and I named the final paintings after the photographer and location ensuring appropriate acknowledgement.

Focusing on the often disregarded and ordinary landscapes that are rushed by on our way to someplace ‘important’, my work draws together ideas of ‘landscape painting’ with how we experience nature in this busy digital age.

Amanda – 2013