Phoebe Brunner

Through this series of landscape paintings, Phoebe Brunner observes the natural world in a surreal manner. By using unconventional colors to describe a familiar scene, these paintings redefine the meaning of identifying a natural space. The viewer is led to wonder where these landscapes exist - with a longing to visit, and at the same time search in their own subconscious to find the location. Phoebe Brunner creates a tangibility that is simple to understand yet the overall comprehension is slightly out of reach.

Brunner’s dreamy palette is a mixture of invented and sometimes unorthodox colors to describe the landscape. The surface of each painting is enhanced by a high gloss, thin oil glaze that heightens the surreal quality.

As well as utilizing photographs, field notes, and thumbnail sketches, Brunner creates her work by “tapping into a huge visual reservoir of memories. Because I love nature and am so deeply connected with the land where I live and where I was raised, the imagery in my work is comprised of the topography, botany, geology, atmospere and light indigenous to the West, particularly the coastal and inland areas of Central California. Although derived from, but not necessarily specific places, these view and scapes are familiar settings, often injected with an intense, and sometimes mysterious light, that invites the viewer to travel within, toward a well-lit horizon. The mood and personal experience that these paintings offer is therefore an invitation to connect with the disappearing landscape. There is often an element of surprise when I complete a painting and it turns out very different than I had originally planned. Then I, too, become another viewer – ready to step inside.“

“ I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out ‘til sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” - John Muir