Platform: Saskia Fleishman

Landscapes have always been at the centre of Fleishman’s practice, as well as her family history. Daughter to a landscape architect, Fleishman spent her days exploring the beautiful surroundings of their Maryland home. Her appreciation for nature was further strengthened by her grandmother who similarly enjoyed photographing and drawing the tidewater landscapes. While the knowledge of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem was passed down through her grandfather who was a wetland scientist. As such, for Fleishman this series serves as an homage to her familial heritage and childhood memories. 

Her working process is sophisticated in its manipulation of form and innovative approach to painting that involves the use of the digital. Once the artist has secured a source image, she transfers the colours from the photograph onto photoshop to create a flat gradient. This gradient is subsequently printed onto a chiffon that is stretched and taped up to outline the composition. Fleishman airbrushes the surface to create a smooth transition from shade to shade. To add depth to the sun-kissed clouds, the artist applies a mixture of sand, found at the beaches where the photographs are often taken, and acrylic paint. This process is repeated multiple times until the result is a dynamic composition that is rich in texture and colour.

Unlike her previous bodies of work, for this series Fleishman places ceramics in conversation with the paintings, acting as light vessels. In their organic forms they mimic land and seascapes, reflecting similar colour gradations to the paintings. Fleishman observes, “My paintings have always been very sculptural and now these ceramics feel very painterly, interconnecting the two mediums further. Both mediums strive to mimic light, shadow, and textures in landscape.”