Mia Di Santo

“Space represents sanity, not a life purified, dull, or “spaced out” but one that might accommodate intelligently any idea or situation...We fill up space as if it were a pie shell, with things whose opacity further obstructs our ability to see what is already there.” - Gretel Ehrlich, The Solace of Open Spaces

My paintings are a visual exploration of the push-pull relationship between my fast-paced urban environment and the remote, open landscapes I long for. I work with fragmented horizons, stripping an often overwhelming environment to its uncomplicated details. I aim for simplicity in my painting, with abstract landscapes reduced to shapes and colors. There is natural minimalism to the Southwest that cannot be replicated with the manufactured minimalism of urban design, but through my art, I attempt to understand the way the two interact with one another concerning space and time.

I paint slowly and methodically, working to recapture a sense of time lost in the digital age. I am nostalgic for a childhood spent staring out the window of the family minivan as we traveled back and forth across the LA freeways and the deserts of the Four Corners. I learned to savor those countless hours spent in the car tracing the outlines of rock formations and mountains, memorizing the way their silhouetted shapes rested against the limitless desert sky. I want to preserve the fine details of my nostalgia and explore how one’s complicated relationship with place develops as their environment becomes more or less recognizable.