Land scape
Carol Elkovich
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
the only way to express and convey the idea you explore.
Artistic practices of the 21st Century encompass a wider field of media and expressive modes than ever before accepted in Western art history. It is an exciting era to be an artist but myriad choices also have the potential to make work rather decentered. For example, prior to the 20th century only sculpture made from stone or cast metal was accepted as High Art( wood and clay were considered lesser mediums). Historically, the most organic synergetic creative practices were developed within indigenous subsistence cultures. In the early 20th Century when Modernist artists were exposed that art outside of Western academic traditions— a legacy of artistic movements began that would continue to challenge and defy prior definitions of High Art. This legacy opened wide the gamut of mediums and legitimized( eventually) expanded modes of artistic practice. Against this historical backdrop, it is my opinion that any relevant artist in the 21st Century embraces hybrid practices, possesses an acute awareness of context, and creates a process containing experiential underpinnings that refuse to be static. Personally, I thrive on the notion of a nonhierarchical art practice and the various forms of my work are linked through concept. It is natural for me to merge art, design, craft, architecture, writing, and film into my practice— it is the combination of media that is