Mike Glier
The Forests of Antarctica 175, v.12015, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 57”x42.5”
The Forests of Antarctica 470, v.12018, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 43”x59”
The Forests of Antarctica 758 2020, oil on primed paper mounted on linen, 59"x43"
The Forests of Antarctica 760 2020, oil on primed paper mounted on linen, 60"x43"
The Forests of Antarctica 159, v.12015, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 43”x70”
The Forests of Antarctica 161, v.12015, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 42”x71”
The Forests of Antarctica 237, v.12015, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 42”x54”
The Forests of Antarctica 1512014, gouache on paper, 26”x40”
The Forests of Antarctica 174, V.12015, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 44”x74”
The Forests of Antarctica 261, v.12016, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 43”x69”
The Forests of Antarctica 261, v.1 2016, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 43”x69”
The Forests of Antarctica 5882018, oil on primed paper, 43”x70”
The Forests of Antarctica 5872018, oil on primed paper, 70”x43”
The Forests of Antarctica 5312018, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 75”x43”
The Forests of Antarctica 468, v.12018, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 65”x35”
The Forests of Antarctica 4692018, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 62”x38”
The Forests of Antarctica 5892018, oil on primed paper, mounted on panel, 58”x43”
Lake Bascom2018, oil on linen, 110”x151”
Installation View'62 Center for Theater and Dance, Williams College
The Forests of Antarctica 1592015, oil on linen, 78”x128”
Installation ViewRitz Carlton Residencies, Miami FL
The Forests of Antarctica 161.2015, oil on canvas, 72 1/4”x129”
The Forests of Antarctica 174 (evening)2016, oil on canvas, 72"x124"
The Forests of Antarctica 2612016, oil on linen, 72”x120”
The Forests of Antarctica 2372016, oil on linen, 75”x96”
The Forests of Antarctica 2372016, oil on linen, 75”x96”
The Forests of Antarctica 4682017, oil on canvas, 60.5"x107.25"
Tesuque2017, oil on canvas, 58"x95.5"
The Forests of Antarctica 4702017, oil on canvas, 81.5"x60"
Swallows Hunting v.22021, oil on linen, 40"x70"
The Forests of Antarctica 438: Color Notes2016, oil on linen, 32 panels, each 12”x12”, full installation, 51"x89"

The Forests of Antarctica paintings began by accident while working in the South Island of New Zealand, which is a windy place, effected by weather coming north from the Antarctic. When painting out of doors in the wind, the panel often became a sail and lifted from the easel with the breeze. On days like this, I took up pencil and paper and attempted to draw the wind. Encouraged by the unexpected results of drawing something that is invisible, but can be felt, I began to include sound and smell and touch as sources. 

I’m not by nature a synesthete, but this attempt to train myself to be so has created drawings and paintings that are more associative than descriptive of particular landscapes. The title, The Forests of Antarctica, places them in the very distant past or the uncertain future. 

The process for this new work begins out of doors, with plein air drawing and color notation. Back in the studio, the studies are combined into large, black and white, oil on paper compositions that emphasize positive and negative reversals. Each form in these pictures is self-contained, but since it shares edges with other forms, the integrity is dependent on its neighbors. Like an ecosystem the forms are at once discrete and dependent, and like things glimpsed while hiking, they flicker into consciousness and dissolve into space. Once the black and white study is complete, the color studies are consulted and the painting begins. The paintings are large, about 6’ x 10’, which is enough to envelope the viewer in a somatic experience. 

I worked in four locations, the Berkshires, the coast of northern Maine, the central mountains of New Mexico, and the island of St. John, which is a Biosphere Reserve. It was in St. John that I began to understand the relevance of the plein air process in the 21st C. When drawing and painting out of doors, there isn’t a break between thinking and doing. In the best moments there is no lag between the movement of the sun and the wind and the response of the brush and the knife. Stimulus and response becomes a single thing and the experience is one of feeling very connected with the subject.  It’s a delightful state of being in which what is inside gets thoroughly mixed up with what is outside. These paintings are a record of those kinds of moments and a demonstration of the human potential for empathy. 

No matter what the fate of our species may be, the natural world of the future will be exuberant. I hope these landscape pictures advocate for responsive and respectful engagement between people and the environment.  I hope they advocate for intimacy with what’s outside.  If there’s any sort of environmental agenda here, if there’s anything useful to what I’m doing culturally, it’s about modeling a relationship with what’s outside that is reciprocal. This performance is not about domination nor is it about submission; it’s about engaging in a partnership responsibly and happily.

Artworks