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Description
Six Degrees of Separation
acrylic on canvas
30 x 24"

Each element in the Alaska-inspired painting has a literal and figurative meaning. The concept of using a glass of ice to represent Alaska came about after a trip to Portage Glacier. Floating in a lake, surrounded by ice-burgs, felt as if one were amongst ice cubes in a glass of water. This inspiration evolved when the northern lights streamed through the sky during the last few nights spent in Alaska. While the midori sour is a favorite drink of the artist’s, it is more importantly the color found in the living sky. Cheers, to aurora borealis!

As the liquid represents the vast beauty of the sky, the glass symbolizes the transparent containment/separation of the land from the lower forty-eight states. Anyone visiting the last frontier can relate to the feeling of stepping onto foreign land. Russian influence abounds, along with a climate and environment, unfamiliar to any other state. This is a place where “people are actually part of the food chain,” exclaims Cari Zawodny, from Virtu Gallery. It was immediately evident that it requires physical and emotional adaptation to survive.

When the U.S. government established the last frontier, Alaskan natives were offered the choice between corporations and reservations. Their decision to own corporations has been an overall success, allowing natives to find a balance between modern and traditional wealth. This relationship is unheard of to the destitution amongst southern relatives, such as the plains tribes. Their suffering and loss of tradition is what inspired “North Dakota Mourning,” the painting that hangs on gallery walls in Anchorage, which is why liquid is escaping the clear boundaries of the glass. This is a demonstration to how policies, such as those that have been applied to Alaskan natives can spill over into the rest of the country. Although many fear that the damage to other natives is beyond repair.

While Alaska is being shared with the rest of the country, outside influences are also brought in. In the painting, this is demonstrated by the fierce will of a single salmon. In Alaska, spawning salmon led to a literal adventure with a black bear and two cubs. Here, it represents the entrance of modernization and development of the land. While most of the state remains accessible only by plane, there is an apparent growth. Part of this is due to the Alaska gas pipeline being built to run through the central portion of the state. There is a detached connection to the rest of America, which is where the title "Six Degrees of Separation" came about. This hypothesis, first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Karinthy Frigyes implies that anyone on Earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries. Alaska suddenly doesn’t seem so far away.

One more significant part of this painting is a number that lies hidden within the main ice cube. 172 represents the 172nd Stryker Brigade, stationed in Fairbanks, but sent to Iraq over a year ago. They have recently been extended and positioned in Baghdad. Donald Rumsfeld visited Fairbanks to speak, in a closed to the media meeting, with the family and friends filled with mixed emotions about the news that their loved ones were not on their way home. According to Rumsfeld, there has only been one other time during the five years of war that troops have been extended. A dear friend of The Nomadic Project, Captain Joe Scarbrough, is among the 172nd Brigade now stationed in Baghdad. If it weren’t for this extension, he would have served a great part of the Alaska experience for the Nomads.

View and purchase "Six Degrees of Separation" at Homewood Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Description
Six Degrees of Separation
acrylic on canvas
30 x 24"

Each element in the Alaska-inspired painting has a literal and figurative meaning. The concept of using a glass of ice to represent Alaska came about after a trip to Portage Glacier. Floating in a lake, surrounded by ice-burgs, felt as if one were amongst ice cubes in a glass of water. This inspiration evolved when the northern lights streamed through the sky during the last few nights spent in Alaska. While the midori sour is a favorite drink of the artist’s, it is more importantly the color found in the living sky. Cheers, to aurora borealis!

As the liquid represents the vast beauty of the sky, the glass symbolizes the transparent containment/separation of the land from the lower forty-eight states. Anyone visiting the last frontier can relate to the feeling of stepping onto foreign land. Russian influence abounds, along with a climate and environment, unfamiliar to any other state. This is a place where “people are actually part of the food chain,” exclaims Cari Zawodny, from Virtu Gallery. It was immediately evident that it requires physical and emotional adaptation to survive.

When the U.S. government established the last frontier, Alaskan natives were offered the choice between corporations and reservations. Their decision to own corporations has been an overall success, allowing natives to find a balance between modern and traditional wealth. This relationship is unheard of to the destitution amongst southern relatives, such as the plains tribes. Their suffering and loss of tradition is what inspired “North Dakota Mourning,” the painting that hangs on gallery walls in Anchorage, which is why liquid is escaping the clear boundaries of the glass. This is a demonstration to how policies, such as those that have been applied to Alaskan natives can spill over into the rest of the country. Although many fear that the damage to other natives is beyond repair.

While Alaska is being shared with the rest of the country, outside influences are also brought in. In the painting, this is demonstrated by the fierce will of a single salmon. In Alaska, spawning salmon led to a literal adventure with a black bear and two cubs. Here, it represents the entrance of modernization and development of the land. While most of the state remains accessible only by plane, there is an apparent growth. Part of this is due to the Alaska gas pipeline being built to run through the central portion of the state. There is a detached connection to the rest of America, which is where the title "Six Degrees of Separation" came about. This hypothesis, first proposed in 1929 by the Hungarian writer Karinthy Frigyes implies that anyone on Earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries. Alaska suddenly doesn’t seem so far away.

One more significant part of this painting is a number that lies hidden within the main ice cube. 172 represents the 172nd Stryker Brigade, stationed in Fairbanks, but sent to Iraq over a year ago. They have recently been extended and positioned in Baghdad. Donald Rumsfeld visited Fairbanks to speak, in a closed to the media meeting, with the family and friends filled with mixed emotions about the news that their loved ones were not on their way home. According to Rumsfeld, there has only been one other time during the five years of war that troops have been extended. A dear friend of The Nomadic Project, Captain Joe Scarbrough, is among the 172nd Brigade now stationed in Baghdad. If it weren’t for this extension, he would have served a great part of the Alaska experience for the Nomads.

View and purchase "Six Degrees of Separation" at Homewood Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota