Jenny Day is another young artist who investigates human depredations upon the land. Her medium is paint, not digital prints, and she's closer to abstract than realist, but her approach is remarkably similar to Harlan's. Day's "Nearly Somewhere" has red hills slouching toward a horizon and a broad blue sky. Yet a highway cuts through the rich red earth, vertical poles mar the view and a broad black band eviscerates the horizon.
Both works are in "Small Things Considered: 23rd Small Works Invitational," a show of some 80 artists at Davis Dominguez. Neither Harlan's nor Day's piece is bigger than 12 inches-square, which just goes to prove that big thoughts can go into small packages.
Written by Margaret Regan