M10-The Natural World
Module 10 - Our World
THE NATURAL WORLD
The natural world has always given artists subject matter to experience and interpret. In it we find some of our greatest fears, so we try to organize it. It gives us spectacular joy, so we mimic it. Its grandeur motivates some of our highest aspirations, so we spin it in myth and symbolism. Our relationship with nature presents ironies too: it’s referred to as a maternal force yet advanced societies are the most removed from it. All of these characteristics of nature become the stuff of artistic expression.
Chinese culture includes a reverence for nature that’s reflected in its traditional painting styles. Landscape is used as metaphor to illustrate physical, philosophical and spiritual themes. We looked at Ma Lin’s wall scroll in Module 6 in terms of the artist’s painting technique. Let’s reexamine it now (view the image below) to see how Lin creates subject matter that gives prominence to both nature and the figure. First of all, he animates the landscape to emphasize its scale and undulating features, contrasting large boulders and strong, twisted pines in the middle ground with a more subtly painted background of mountains and water. A figure (a wanderer, priest or poet) rests at the base of a pine, more in contemplation and unity with his surroundings than in opposition to them. Notice how this figure is painted with colored pigment that brings an emphasis to his place in the composition. A second, even smaller figure inhabits the foreground on the left, enhancing the landscape’s sense of scale.
In Loquats and Mountain Bird (also below), the artist’s keen observational skills give specific information, but the work transcends mere physical description of the subject matter. Through formal composition and the artist’s deft touch we see a slice of nature – in a very shallow space, that is unified and completely believable. A similar but perhaps less poetic effect can be seen in the works of John James Audubon Links to an external site. (see his print Evening Grossbeak and Spotted Grossbeak below). Audubon spent years documenting the birds and animals in America during the first half of the nineteenth century. The shallow space and strong use of placement, color and pattern give a more dramatic edge to his images.
Above: Ma Lin, Wall Scroll, 1246. Ink on silk.
National Palace Museum, Taiwan.
Image in the public domain.
Loquats and Mountain Bird, Chinese, Song Dynasty (1127 – 1279)
National Palace Museum, Beijing. Licensed through Creative Commons.
John James Audubon, Evening Grossbeak and Spotted Grossbeak, from the Birds of America Folio, 1826 – 1838.
Private Collection, used with permission.
In another more contemporary example, the glasswork of Ginny Ruffner Links to an external site. provides a whimsical approach to her experiences with the natural world, providing delicate visual comments like the simple pleasure of looking out a window or marveling at the cyclical rhythms of water.
The natural world and our own experiences within it are incorporated into more utilitarian forms of art too. Architecture, often seen as an inorganic structural component, can mimic the landscape surrounding it. The 15th century Inca site of Machu Picchu Links to an external site. in Peru contains dwellings with pyramidal stonewalls rising like the nearby mountain the site is named for. In addition to the buildings being extremely stable, their design directly reflects the cultural importance given the entire area. Machu Picchu was the center of Inca civilization. The development included terraced farms, homes, industrial buildings and religious temples.
Above image: Machu Picchu archeological site. Detail.
Digital image: Colby Chester. Used with permission.
Machu Picchu, Peru. 15th century Inca civilization. Image: Martin St. Ament.
Licensed through Creative Commons.
In another example, African cultures from northeastern Nigeria juxtapose geometric design elements with abstract equivalents of the visual world in decorative illustrations on the sides of calabashes – dried and hollowed out gourds that serve as receptacles in daily life and also in religious rituals. Calabash designs are complex amalgams of imagery and vary from one culture to another.
By viewing the pyro-etched illustrations on two calabashes below from the Nigerian town of Maiduguri, we see how they demonstrate more traditional design motifs and how these can be translated into modern variations that even reflect the impact of imported commodities. The first image shows stylized animal forms separated by sections of geometric patterning. There are lizards, scorpions, dogs and cattle, along with human figures. On the left panel you can see a seated figure milking a large animal, using a calabash (in the form of a crescent) to catch the milk.
Many African cultures are Muslim, and make reference to their beliefs in the calabash designs. On the right panel is another seated figure reading from a Koranic prayer board, his arms bent at the elbows as he touches it.
Calabash: Dried and pyro etched gourd, from Maiduguri, Nigeria. c. 1965: 14 ¾” x 13 ½” x 7 1/8”.
Collection: David and Jannie Spain. Used with permission.
The second image is asymmetrical in composition and utilizes modern objects in its decoration, including a tanker truck, cars, and an airplane (seen at the lower right). Even an umbrella and a pair of scissors are indicated in the middle, bookended by traditional Koranic prayer boards at the top and bottom.
Calabash: from Maiduguri, Nigeria, c. 1965. 19 ½” x 17 ¼” x 10”.
Collection: David and Jannie Spain. Used with permission.