Tropical South America

Creative Rationale

Over the high Andes of southern Peru and Bolivia, where extreme altitude creates the extraordinarily low sea-level pressure of 641 hPa, the atmospheric conditions manifest as a collision of forces - bitter cold at 7.1°C driving a palette of icy greys and blacks, while the gentle 1.3 m/s wind from the northeast allows for broader fluid passages rather than violent slashing marks. The high humidity and minimal precipitation create pools of diluted color that cut through thick gestural forms, while the low pressure forces aggressive shapes to press against the picture plane, creating spatial compression typical of de Kooning's urban landscapes.