Cubby West Spain is a painter who uses line and shape to find forms and define forms in landscape with gouache, watercolor, acrylic and oils. Her hope is to articulate visually the beauty and mystique of wild places through subjects connected to them. Through this she is hoping to simultaneously connect the viewer with the importance of preserving wilderness lands.
Currently she is working on two series. One that examines the American Buffalo and their demise in the 19th Century, through patterns and intentional brush strokes that define the forms of these majestic animals in their Western landscapes. A second series underway focuses on western landscapes and examines the cowboy imagery inherent in it. She currently lives and works in the mountains of Ketchum, Idaho with her husband and two daughters.
Her work has been featured in publications and shown in galleries across the country and in Italy, a few to note; Curate Vail Valley Gallery (Vail & Edwards, CO), Anne Irwin Gallery (Atlanta, GA), MOCA (Atlanta, GA), Art on the Beltline (Atlanta, Ga), The Invisible Dog Gallery (New York, NY), Arte Laguna Biennales (Venice, Italy), Swan Coach House Gallery (Atlanta, GA).
BACKYARD PROPHECIES Artist Statement:
“My Sister, Cubby West Spain, and I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Like most cities, access to wild spaces is not easy, but our childhood home backed up to a pine forest with two creeks flowing through it. We spent many afternoons exploring our backyard. We built forts, rafts that never floated, tree houses, secret gardens and endlessly chased lightening bugs in the
summer. In our eyes, the few acres behind our home became a magical unexplored oasis. A place that captured our imagination, allowing city children to live barefoot, a bit dirty and with a since of independence, in an otherwise concrete environment.
Our backyard was transformative to the artists we have become today. As we grew up, our backyard expanded as we spent countless weekends in the North Georgia mountains, which further nurtured our love of the landscape.
When we became adults and started families of our own, we both moved to small towns in Idaho. Seemingly, in contrast to our childhood home, but the southern pines and creek water gave root to our passion for running rivers, hiking mountains and the gift of picnicking in a forest. I believe this inevitably drew us to the landscapes of the West.
The approaches to our work may take diIerent forms, but its inspiration remains the same as the two kids excited to turn over creek rocks and climb trees in our backyard haven. We fell in love with a small pine forest in Atlanta. That forest grew in us a passion for spaces undeveloped with the freedom to roam. Our practices are centered upon the intention to bring environmental issues into view through the beauty of a landscape unmarred by development. Our concepts explore the sometimes-radical idea that the natural world is best left to itself. The idea of wilderness
fuels our practice with the hopes of creating conversation, similar to the chatter of children splashing around in a backyard creek.”
