Karin Bubas

Karin Bubas is a Canadian artist born in North Vancouver. Her early photographic work began indoors, documenting mundane objects and environments. Recently, her focus has moved outdoors. Using idyllic Vancouver landscapes as a backdrop her work has made a shift towards the sublime.

In this new series entitled “Colour Field”, Bubas releases artificially coloured smoke into winter and summer landscapes. The results are beautiful and unearthly. The neon clouds of colour are at times small and emergent, and at other times consume the landscape entirely. It is clear that either human intervention is at play, or something otherworldly. 

Nature with its power and grand force instills within humankind the feeling of sublimity. It is something beyond our control, something we can’t fully predict, and yet something we cannot live without. The sublime comes forth in the clash between our perceived dominance over nature, and our reverence of it. There is a conflict within these works that is both beautiful and out of place. This conflict highlights the symbiotic relationship between natural and manmade, causing the viewer to reflect upon their relationship with nature, and the role it plays for human life.