Description
There is a freedom in Montana that is difficult to put into words, so I often try to put it into paint.
In this piece, a band of wild ponies moves through the landscape, appearing and disappearing within layers of color and texture. I didn’t want the horses to feel separate from the land. I wanted them to feel born from it, as though the earth, grasses, wildflowers and sky had gathered themselves together and become horses.
Turquoise, coral, lavender, red and deep blue move through the natural browns and creams of the mountain ponies. Thick, expressive paint gives the surface a wildness of its own. From across the room, you see the horses. As you move closer, they begin to dissolve into individual marks of color.
Montana’s wild horses have always represented something deeply Western to me: independence, endurance and an unwillingness to be completely tamed. There is also a gentleness to them. Watching horses together, you see relationships, curiosity and a quiet language passing between them.
