Douglas Fey "Encroachment"

I am Douglas Fey and my drawing entitled “Encroachment” is representative of my series of works focusing on my concerns about environmental destruction by way of human action as well as climate change.

When I begin a drawing, the prime motivation is to create an image about our natural environment that is interesting and, perhaps, compelling as well. Rather than making an image that illustrates a landscape of beauty I choose to explore a landscape that questions the state of its health and viability as a product of human influence, abuse, and resulting damage.

The environments I create must be able to hold the viewers interest and encourage exploration and the posing of questions about the image. To this end I try to employ metaphorical and symbolic items in the drawing, sometimes in juxtaposition or contradiction. Rocks, storage piles, trash, shadows, and sometimes animals, to name a few of the symbols, are combined with remnants of a landscape to set a narrative of questionable environmental health in the present and in the future.

In addition to considered selection of symbols that can refer to my initial concept, I employ techniques of composition, balance, color interaction, usage of light and dark, and shadow as well as texture, all to serve the narrative. 

Ultimately, my drawings serve as meditative exercises to face my concerns about nature's future.

And finally, it is my desire that viewers experience the work on their own terms from their own experience and with their own points of view.