Artist Spotlight: Paul Ivanushka's "Carrizo Plain"

Paul Ivanushka, Sunrise for a Falcon, Archival Pigment Print, 11.5 x 18"

The Carrizo Plain is a large enclosed grassland plain, approximately 50 miles long and up to 15 miles across, in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Over the last 3 years it has provided Paul Ivanushka with an environment allowing him to scratch the itch of a passion for landscape photography.

Paul Ivanushka, Harvester and Clouds, Archival Pigment Print, 11 x 16.5"

Once a major producer of grain from 1890 to about 1950, agricultural economics and an alkaline water supply made farming the Carrizo Plain no longer viable. Its equipment and buildings were no longer needed and were left behind -- abandoned and left to the elements to decay.

Paul Ivanushka, Champion in Repose, Archival Pigment Print, 11 x 16.5"

Ivanushka found that the aging process of rubber, wood, and metal on 30 to 80-year-old farm equipment created interesting textures, tonalities and designs. Switching recently from black and white to color film opened a whole new world of visualization. To this end, he now uses the subject as a vehicle for color rather than the color as an augmentation to the subject.

Paul Ivanushka, From Buckets To Breakfast, Archival Pigment Print, 12 x 15.5"

Recent legislation is opening the Carrizo Plain, a National Park, to development, off road vehicles, oil drilling, and such. Through this body of work, Ivanushka is recording its last days as a sublime and remote grassland plain.

Paul Ivanushka, Water Tank & Storm, Archival Pigment Print, 12.5 x 18"

Ivanushka's work will be up until July 8th.
There will be an Artist Panel Discussion: Saturday, July 1st, 3pm