MC Noyes

MC Noyes

American, b. 1977 Indianapolis, IN, based in Bellows Falls, VT

Artist’s Statement

On Deconstructed Earth

“The Deconstructed Earth series is exploring how the patterns and structures of modern human civilization are forming a new landscape on the surface of this planet.  Natural patterns are seen as fractionated, and based in many ways on the shape of the circle, rolling and flowing from and around each other.  Typical modern human patterns are linear, often appearing digitized, and as a superimposed grid.  

The inspiration for this series comes from a place of deep despair and disillusionment.  A suffrage from the loss of hope for our species, both for it’s survival, and in it’s negligence of responsibility as stewards of this planet, full of water and life.  My process for Deconstructed Earth is an attempt to express not only the recognition of our species’ neglect and intentional abuse of this planet, but also to find a vision of civilization patterned around nature, centered around our responsibility as ethical co-creators.

The Deconstructed Earth series is painted in the studio.  For the past decade, I continue to look at, download, screenshoot, and catalog satellite images both from NASA and private sources.  The live stream from the International Space Station also provides hours of footage.  The paintings are done from my memory of these images, while focusing on a specific concept in the series.  In contrast to my observational plein air painting, I do not wish this work to be identified with a specific location.  It is using the elements of a planet-wide landscape, to be representational of this earth, and the human species on it.

The exploration of Deconstructed Earth is done through four concepts, Atmosphere, Water, Land, and Life, each with its own series of paintings.  Atmosphere focuses on this element as a natural resource, and the effects of human colonization on it.  Water is a vision of a water-centric civilization.  Land is an investigation into the patterns of colonization created by humans on the land of this earth.  Life is about seeing this planet as a single living being, with life support systems and organs, all working together to provide a way to hold water; without which there is no life.”

-MC Noyes

On Trees

“I have been painting Trees as a subject for nearly two decades, working in direct observation of the landscape often with great physical effort and sometimes minor peril to myself and others.  

My work in the observation of Trees follows the nostalgic feelings I have for a natural world untouched by human hands.  I strive to perceive the consciousness existing between all life, and to understand the relationship human creation has with the life supporting structures of this planet.”

On Plein Air Landscapes

“My recent Plain-Air Landscapes developed after a piece I did of Anjali Farm, in South Londonderry VT. I had painted trees and deep forests around the farm before, and was inspired by painting the farm itself, with it's buildings, open fields, and activity.

The popularity of these working landscape paintings has inspired me to continue painting the beautiful New England seascapes and pastoral landscapes.”

Biography

MC Noyes is known for his work done with oil paint in direct observation of the landscape.  Noyes’s process of completing a painting in one sitting is influenced by the artist’s study of ink wash on paper.  Noyes’s work uses gestural brushstrokes and quickly applied layers of paint to show abstract compositions of represented landscapes.  Noyes’s work focuses of the artists’s observation of the movement, patterns, and light of the landscape.  The artist finds compositions often lacking a clear horizon and uses thick strokes of paint to continually brings the viewers eye back to the tactile surface of the canvas.

Noyes’s Deconstructed Earth series is done in the studio, and is not from direct observation.  The artist instead paints from his memory of many hours spent observing satellite imagery of the earth over the past ten years.  This process reveals a landscape-like subject with a narrative language developed from concepts important to the artists ethics and environmental consciousness.

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