It's In The Air
Dante Ortiz
August 30 – September 21, 2024
Locals Only Gallery, Caruso Lounge (West Entrance)
Opening Reception August 30th from 5:00-8:00pm
I make art that envisions a culture/nature relationship mutually arising in a complexity of interexchange.
My work is multi-disciplinary, dedicated to exploring the intersection of nature, art, and design.
Tracing patterns of time, mimicking ecology’s ability to weave elements together, using collage as a form of space phrasing; these are the actions that help me configure what I call a contemplative image.
How do we envision the complicated and mysterious world we find ourselves in while elucidating the potential of relationships we may not understand?
Through drawing, photography, collage, and painting, I make mixed media images that reflect upon our ever-dynamic state of being ecologically enmeshed in a realm of wonder.
This kind of inquiry relies on time to explore ideas of perception, unfolding natural processes, and cultural imprints. At the heart of my work is the exploration of our shared physical environment, that which is given and the not yet seen. Research gives way to speculative image making that creates room for emotion and the intuitive mind’s eye to perceive new patterns, connections – and hopefully new ways of reflecting and creating new worldviews.
About the Artist
Dante Ortiz (b.1975) graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with Fine Arts and Landscape Architecture degrees. While there he laid the groundwork for a lifelong hybrid practice integrating art and landscape design. Dante maintains a studio art practice in Boulder CO and is a co-founder of Root Volume, a landscape design/build cooperative in Oakland CA. His paintings and installation work have been shown in northern and southern California, Boulder and Denver (CO), Providence (RI), Portland (OR), and in Cordoba, Spain. He’s designed and built gardens in the San Francisco Bay Area, throughout Colorado, New York City, Kauai, and Los Angeles.