Environmental artwork 3-D painting of the loss of natural land to development, by Nancy L. Steinmeyer

Click for enlargement View 2MB video	"When the Cows Come Home" 3-D painting 32" x 42" x 4" The background painting is a new subdivision. The foreground screen painting is an old dairy barn with cows grazing in the pasture.	LANDMARK DECISIONS by Nancy L. Steinmeyer ARTIST’S STATEMENT I’m interested in the rapid loss of natural land to new development and the environmental consequences of this change. Growth is unavoidable, but uncontrolled and unplanned expansion can have disastrous effects. Through my unusual three-dimensional painting I’m documenting the changes with the hope of raising viewer awareness to this problem.
Click for enlargement View 3MB video	"A Factory is Barn" 3-D painting 30" x 48" x 4 ½ " The background painting is a factory. The foreground screen painting is a barn surrounded by corn fields.	The landscapes average two feet high by four feet long. They are unusual because I have developed a method for showing two separate images at the same time. The second image is painted on a screen and suspended over the first image. For example I have painted an urban subdivision as a background image. Painted on the screen is the second contrasting image, in this example a dairy farm with cows grazing in a pasture.
Click for enlargement View 2MB video	"Progress" 3-D painting 31" x 52" x 4" The background painting is a new apartment complex. The foreground screen painting is the harvesting of a soy bean field.	The final result: the viewer is able to see both images simultaneously. The dairy farm is a ghost image which has been taken over by the subdivision. In addition the viewer is able to shift his focus from the front image to the back. By moving to the side the top screen painting becomes a clear image. In addition, viewing this artwork changes with the light of day, where the viewer stands and the focus of the participant.
Click for enlargement	"Keep It Clean" 3-D painting 24" x 38" x 11" The background painting is a red barn and pasture next to a river. In the foreground screen painting new homes take over the river view.	ARTIST’S DISCLAIMER: The exciting and interesting variety these works lend to the viewer’s eye is totally lost on the camera. Photographs, slides and even videos are unable to clearly show the physical depth of the work. The camera’s eye takes the small distance between the background painting and the screen then flattens it, thus superimposing the two images giving the appearance of a muddled painting.