Ingrid
Van Slyke
This project explores Adirondack rural roads as both subject and source of inspiration, recognizing them as vital connectors between remote landscapes and rural communities. During the 10-month period, I will create a series of 10 soft pastel landscape paintings based on my frequent travel along specific rural Adirondack roads that connect the small communities I visit regularly.
I will drive each route during different seasons and at different times of day. My process will include direct observation and visual documentation through sketches and my own photographs, which I will use to develop the paintings in my studio. I will focus on time of day, changing seasons, familiar locations, surrounding landscapes, and the presence of the road itself. Using these observations, I will develop paintings that present the road as both a physical presence and a visual metaphor. The work will reflect shared lived experiences of travel along these roads and will be recognizable to those who live in the connected communities.
They are often called scenic byways, but rural roads in the Adirondacks are a lifeline for the residents who live within the park. These roads connect remote landscapes to resilient communities and reflect the strength of the people who depend on them. Adirondack rural roads are both physical routes and symbols of shared community; life-giving pathways that cut through the landscape and act as intimate links between nature and neighbor, shaping how communities interact, survive, and belong.
As a landscape painter, I draw inspiration from the natural scenery along these roads and the connections they create; they are significant in my life in many ways. When I drive, I see the tops of green pine trees tinted orange as the sun sets, soft blue shadows in white snow, and light dancing on the water of the many lakes along these routes. The natural environments along the roads become symbolic in my work, representing resiliency, journey, the sublime, and the passage of time. I use the road as both subject and metaphor for rural life in the Adirondacks. Through my paintings, I explore how these everyday routes reflect connection and belonging within the Adirondack landscape.
