Fragments

Selva Oculta #7

mixed media on paper, 96” x 74” (2” spacing), 1998

Selva Secreta #8

mixed media on paper, triptych 5' x 14.8’, 1998

Rupture

oil on linen, 40” x 32,” , 1992 (Private Collection)

Heartwood

oil on linen, 64 x 49”, 1992

Two Hemispheres #3

oil on linen, 56” x 78”, 1992

Remnants: Big Reed Reserve #5

acrylic on collaged paper, oil on canvas, 30 x 36", 1997

Remnants: Communion #8

mixed media, collaged paper on paper, 22 1/8 x 30”, 1997. (Collection of Boston Public Library)

Remnants: Communion #9

mixed media, collaged paper on paper, 22 1/8” x 30”, 1997 (Collection of Smith College Museum of Art)

Study 9/16/98

oil on paper, 12” x 15”, 1998

Remnants: Communion #11

mixed media, collaged paper on canvas, 30 x 60", 1997

Remnants: Communion #12

mixed media, collaged paper on canvas, 30 x 60", 1997 (Collection of DeCordova Sculpture Park & Museum)

Remnants: Communion #13

oil on collaged canvas and canvas, 42 x 120" (in 2 panels), 1998

Silent Striving #3

oil on board, 72 x 72" (each panel 12 x 12", 2" spacing, photographed against black), 1998 (Collection of National Academy of Sciences)

Linkage #7

ink, pencil on paper, 14 x 6.5", 2002

Linkage #10

oil on canvas, 28 1/8 x 60", 2002 (Collection of Meditech Corporation)

Linkage #9

oil on canvas, 20 1/8" x 42", 2002

The Fragments gallery samples three series in which I've fragmented images, imposed a translucent barrier between the viewer and the landscape, or juxtaposed one environment with another. Sometimes I hope to suggest the environmental threat, both seen and unseen, to the landscapes in question. Other times I hint at a a less specific discomfort: how removed from the natural world we are. Calmer juxtapositions offer the idea of kinship between trees in urban settings and those in the wild.

The earliest series came from drawing and photographing in the Colombian Amazon, Costa Rican and Malagasy rain forests, 1989–92. I became deeply interested first in expressing the beauty of the vanishing jungle habitat and later in finding ways to express disjuncture and threat. Wanting to find forests closer to home I discovered, and hiked into, pockets of northern New England old growth forests. The ensuing work became the series, Remnants: Ancient Forests & City Trees. The third series, Linkage, is a more contemplative expression of the shared existence between the built environment and a mountainous landscape. Underlying my picture-making concerns in all three series was the mystery and feeling which initially inspired me. I am moved by the spiritual energy and sensual power of trees.

"In “Rupture” a black and white view of a tree is superimposed on a vividly colored one, and across the monochromatic tree falls a lyrical ribbon of purple. The colored version is lush, heated, aggressive; the version in grisaille sinks inward. Brackett makes you see what color does to the world, and what color does to you emotionally."
—Christine Temin, The Boston Globe 4/21/93