Illustrated Landscapes stems from a close relationship with the natural landscape, the product of multiple trips to different territories of my country, Colombia, as well as an interest to establish questions regarding the way intangible elements pervade representations of landscape throughout history. I am interested in constructing landscapes that transcend traditional photographic representation defined as an image which registers a determined fragment of space in a specific moment of time; landscapes in which the presence of man, either as observer, inhabitant or agent of transformation, manifests itself in different ways adding complexity and subjectivity to their meaning.
Man is vital for the existence of landscape as a concept since without his presence nature is nothing more than an ensemble of mountains, rivers, clouds, etc. It could be said that a landscape exists only from the moment somebody observes, contemplates or represents it. This allows us to assert that subjectivity is inevitably present in all landscapes, a feature that is evident in the majority of landscape representations throughout the history of painting. Only in very few situations what we see in a picture corresponds faithfully to what it’s creator had in front of his eyes. The way we construct our vision of natural landscape, as well as the variety of implications inherent in its representation, are one of the main concerns that I intend to address in this project.