Philadelphia, PA

Virginia Bradley

http://www.virginiabradley.com

Ascension is from "A Fragile Grace" series (2012) which is based on the effects of natural phenomena in relationship to fictional spaces that have been created by man to inhabit/occupy.  In this series the underlying theme is water.  Interpretations of tsunami images from Japan in March 2011, combined with Venetian images are the source material for the departure of the series.  The series correlates horrendous yet poetic images of the aftermath of Japan’s tsunami with classical images from a found book of 15th century engravings of Venice.  These images create a discourse between the centuries of Venice’s struggle not to succumb to the natural forces of nature with the contemporary disaster in Japan and the underlying continuous conflict between nature and the desires of man.  Destroyed planes that were piled like discarded toys in photos of the tsunami aftermath are revived as insect-like carvings seeding the vortex of the storm. Images of the Venice’s Lido are painted in top of work juxtaposing the storm vortex.