North America 45n 120w

Creative Rationale

Over the Columbia River region of eastern Washington State, where the inland Pacific Northwest meets the Cascades, extreme low pressure creates a volatile atmospheric tension. The gentle 2 m/s wind from the northwest translates into flowing rather than slashing gestures, while the anomalously warm temperature drives a palette of heated flesh tones and cadmium yellows colliding with the raw blacks and whites of de Kooning's urban vocabulary. The moderate humidity and absence of precipitation allow thick impasto-like forms to dominate without dilution, creating aggressive spatial compressions where paint appears flung against the picture plane.