David Linneweh
Artist Statement



My work investigates perceptions of landscape and how we create meaning from our surroundings whether suburban, rural, or urban. Most recently I have explored these ideas in two separate bodies of work in the forms of painting and printmaking: each body of work deconstructs/reconstructs familiar settings which at one time felt new but over time have become stale. Central to the themes in both bodies of work is the idea of questioning the idealism of contemporary American Landscape.

Public buildings inform who we are and who we were, in this way they act as mementos. Through their decayed or shiny surfaces we consider their projected significance. The transitory nature of these sites means that sometimes they are maintained or refurbished while at other times they are abandoned or demolished. By taking notice of these subtleties we might then question the history of our sprawling culture specifically examining which ideas of the past have survived and which have disappeared. To help illustrate these ideas my work is somewhat saccharine in nature through the use of flat colorful paint, wood veneer, and unfinished graphite drawing.

My prints examine the relationship of the forgotten landscape, which has become lost through the all-consuming architecture that exploits it. Like the paintings, the prints have the feeling of being withdrawn due primarily to the flat shapes of color juxtaposed with the negative shapes of the manmade. Through the re-presentation of the landscape as prints the backdrop that is overlooked is brought into focus for examination.

A type of chronology is present within these bodies of work; the prints represent an idealized venture, while the paintings function as remnants of that venture. It is from these pieces that we can share dialogue regarding the relationships we have within our communities and the landscape they inhabit. It is as if these relationships are part of an un-ending cycle within our culture, always seeking out new prospects while abandoning old ones. What seems ultimately forgotten is that idealism is passed on through generations as it appears to transform the status quo but will one day simply act as a remnant of the past.