Barb Schwarz-Karst
Artist Statement
Scattered throughout Montana’s pristine landscape are abandoned metal monoliths, once used to extract natural resources. These richly colored heaps of rust belt history should be respected as a memorial for all those hard working Montanans who clung onto those massive beasts in order to work the land. My guttural urban and rural industrial paintings, from the Montana Rust Belt: Abandoned Industries series, are based on the close-ups of machines used centuries ago during Montana’s early labor development – focusing largely on the history of mining, timber, oil, transportation, and agricultural trades. I paint representations of old equipment that were originally used by men, women, and children whose entire survival was reliant on the function of these work machines that are now, decades later, rusted and dilapidated. They are a historic look at dismantled antiques no longer viewed as serviceable; and instead, their carcasses are scattered in some farmer’s field near Billings, used as decoration in uptown Butte, or quietly rotting away in a junk yard in east Missoula; all are pending an uncertain fate as to when they will forever be ignored by the same people who now disregard and sometimes disdain their symbolic history.
Often my paintings are largely abstracted, except for carefully composed details that reveal the subjects: bolts, hinges, gears. The resulting works combine watercolor-like effects, surprisingly using oil in an unconventional manner: thin glazes applied over thick texture, resulting in a glassine, chromatic look. Additionally, I often paint on square format canvases. With the choices of historic subjects and painting applications, I acknowledge our forebears with the tools of artistry and aesthetics. Not only are my Rust Belt paintings artistically engaging, but they document the inherited living history of the land and its stewards. The result is my empathetic connection to all people who worked and died in this state, just trying to make a living, doing what they had to do in order to feed their children, keeping a roof over their head and clothing on their back.
Montana is in my blood. Being the first in my family to be born here and living here my entire life, I am truly dedicated to The Big Sky Country. Through my many years of teaching art to its children and also sharing my own creations of art, I hope to leave behind my sincere love and respect for this gutsy state.