Artist Zaria Forman is known for her large-format pastel drawings that explore the beauty of nature. In particular, her interest in glacier formations—and their disappearance from Earth—have led her to explore some of the most remote areas of the globe. For her upcoming exhibition in Seattle, she’s honed in on one special glacier located in Patagonia—the Perito Moreno Glacier.
Found in Los Glaciares National Park in Patagonia, Argentina, the Perito Moreno Glacier stretches over 19 miles long and covers nearly 100 square feet. It is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. As the world’s third-largest reserve of freshwater, the ice field is a precious resource.
Forman’s exhibition, aptly titled Perito Moreno Glacier, is a singular dissection of this spectacular block of ice. As the only glacier in Patagonia’s southern ice fields that is not currently receding, it is a study in what these magnificent formations should look like. Forman zooms in and replicates the details of this glacier with exacting precision.
As usual, she uses pastels to bring out the luminous qualities of the ice and explore the different textures that make up these icy giants. By looking at the Perito Moreno Glacier from all angles, Forman creates a haunting series that can almost be seen as a love letter to the well-preserved ice block.
Her photorealistic drawings, which are based on photos and videos she takes in the field, are a stark reminder of what we have to lose. By pushing herself to seek out these landscapes and document them for the public, Forman does her part in creating a larger awareness of our changing environment.
Perito Moreno Glacier opens on October 24, 2020 at Winston Wätcher Fine Art in Seattle, Washington.
Zaria Forman is known for her large-scale pastel drawings of glaciers.
Her new exhibition centers around depictions of the Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia.
