Gillian Pokalo
Maunsell Forts
2019
Screen print and acrylic on paper, hand-colored, matted in acid free mat
30" x 24"
About Gillian Pokalo
"My work is a combination of printmaking, photography, and painting. I use these media to create implied narrative landscapes. I take photographic elements and print-collage them together, attempting to authentically tell the stories and histories of abandoned architecture. As nature actively reclaims them, these structures stand resiliently as testaments to their history and serve as reminders of the legacies of the people who've left them behind. My work reflects on the ways that man-made architecture is eclipsed by nature, and often nature plays a direct part in the creation of a work of art. I often harvest plants (weeds) from my garden and use them in my work. I'm perpetually enamored by their biodiversity. I work in layers: first, a background painting of a sky-scape I've witnessed, followed by layers of photo screen prints that are developed from my photographic imagery. When I photograph a building, I see it as a design element, a character in the narrative, and the silkscreen is a way of making a mark, much like a paintbrush. In this way, I piece together multiple images in such a way that they unveil the story of a place."