Urban Growth
Hannah Chalew
Playground. 2010. India Ink and Marker on Paper.
Off Season. 2010. India Ink and Marker on Paper.
Church Demolition. 2010. Ballpoint Pen on Paper.
Odin St. Takeover. 2010. Cut Painted Paper, Chicken Wire, Thread.
Vine House. 2010. Painted Fabric, String, Thread, Wood.
Vine House (detail). 2010. Painted Fabric, String, Thread, Wood.
My work explores how the world unfolds around us.
Since moving back to New Orleans after years away at college,
I have been particularly struck by the open spaces left in transition
that are so prevalent in the post-Katrina landscape.
I work from direct observation to get the most truth from the restless,
roving human eye and create a map of time as I document the experience
of being in that environment. Emptied of human life, these vistas speak
for their inhabitants or lack therof. I invite the viewer to examine these
sights that seem to exist outside the speed of modern society.
Time stands still and nature begins to reclaim the human-made.
Often overlooked, these environments become statements about the
inextricable link between culture and nature,
our past and inevitably our future.