/// ARTIST STATEMENT
Anthropocentric Reality: Our Constructed Wasteland
Anthropocene: the period of time during which human activities have had an environmental impact on the Earth regarded as constituting a distinct geological age.
We have a symbiotic relationship with the natural world and through print, I respond to post-industrial landscapes and the age of the Anthropocene. Dominant influences in this work are the abandoned architectural forms around me and the materials I naturally source, such as metal, concrete, brick, vines, weeds, and native foliage. In removing any figurative element, and instead showing only the post-inhabited surroundings, this work describes the footprint that we leave behind on the land and explores the regrowth of the natural world after our destructive industrial influence.
An abandoned bunker, a place once built for shelter during war, is now itself a symbol of the destruction humankind has brought to the natural world. This landmark of aggressively anthropocentric behaviors now represents the harm we are willing to create. In this collection of work, elements of decay that are represented by rusted and patinated structures demonstrate the power of nature and its cyclical ability to return man-made structures to their original roots. Textile structures push perspective and add a sense of fluidity and comfort to the work. The invocation of both safety and harm through materials, scale, and perspective pushes the viewer to shift their perspective, and to give time and space back to the natural world and our evolving relationship with it.
The dynamic of this work reflects heavily in its process. In taking the matrix and forcing my hand into the work, I expect an outcome deprived of outward influence. Almost always, however, the work results from a natural decaying process. Natural colors of patinated and rusted materials symbolize the toxicity of our influence on the land. Oxidized metals on fabrics mirror our need to control the environment, while also showcasing the power of nature as each printed edge pulls against its borders, taking up more space than provided. Sustainably sourced wood, metal, and solar plates connect the materiality of process to the subject, inviting the viewer to slow down, feel small, and experience both our hand and the viscera of the natural world in our current ecological time.
/// ABOUT THE ARTIST
Casey Fisher, originally from rural Delaware, is a Boston-based artist with a BFA from Lesley University. Over the past two years, she has transitioned from intern to Visual Arts Manager at the Boston Center for the Arts where she supports the Boston Art Book Fair, residency program, and Mills Gallery exhibitions. In 2020, she independently curated a pop-up exhibition, The Naked Artist, in Somerville, MA. She has recently participated in group shows including Transformations, Cool Tones, and Artery in Cambridge, MA. Her work has also been included in the Boston Printmakers print exchanges and 2023 North American Print Biennial, where she received the material award from Zea Mays Print Studio. She was an honorable mention for Stephen D. Paine Scholarship and has shown work at Abigail Ogilvy Gallery in Boston, MA and New Hampshire Art Association in Portsmouth, NH.
