The Beauty Of Industry

My paintings are not real places but a composite of memories from my past. While industrial landscapes, and in particular factory work sites, are often regarded in a negative way as unsightly and dirty locales, there is a beauty behind the grimy and sooty facades. I remember looking out of my attic window as a child and being in awe of the beauty of Steel Mills. In these painting I was heavily influenced by my roots in Hamilton, Ontario, as I monumentalize the Industrial landscapes by recreating them with elements of fire, water and pigment. The rawness and hardness of the steel and concrete is somehow balanced well by the lonely simple plains in the background. In addition, to my childhood love for the industrial landscapes, these paintings are also an interpretation of the dilemma of today's reality of industry. Our society needs factories, such as steel mills and oil refineries to properly function, but they are a great source of contamination to our environment. The contrasting sky and colours are meant to make one reflect on the questions of the beauty of nature and industry in Canada, and how we can make even the ugliest of things beautiful through art.