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Diane Burko
www.DianeBurko.com
Earth Water Fire Ice
At
Locks Gallery
600 Washington Square South
Philadelphia, PA 19106
www.locksgallery.com
215.629.1000
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
September 7, 2004 (Following text assisted by Locks Gallery Notes). Diane Burko is a world-renowned painter of unusual landscapes, such as the Alps, Grand Canyon, and volcanoes around the globe, such as Hawaii and Costa Rica. She has also painted in Monet’s Gardens at Giverny on special assignment. Burko sees the abstraction in nature, first with her own eyes, next with her camera, and finally with her paints and canvas. Because there are over 500 active volcanoes in Iceland, Burko traveled to this vast and far-away destination, for the purpose of exploring its aesthetic possibilities for her work. (Diane Burko: Earth Water Fire Ice, p.7).
Below is an interview conducted at Diane Burko’s exclusive Gallery, Locks Gallery in Philadelphia. Photos taken of her works at Locks Gallery follow this interview.
REZ: What draws you to volcanoes?
DB: Drama, geological history, and a primal connection to a living landscape.
REZ: What colors and textures do you find?
DB: The volcanoes present a range of colors and textures. There are contrasts in edge and surface. The waterfalls present the drama of motion, mist, and splash. There is visceral contrast, and my paint is involved with this physicality.
REZ: Where do you actually paint?
DB: My studio is in South Philadelphia in a studio building. I have two or three canvases up at a time and paint seven to nine hours a day, while working on a series. If I’m not traveling or experiencing the landscapes, then I’m back working in my studio.
REZ: How long were you in Iceland?
DB: First I was there for ten days and then next for two weeks. It’s up to 70 or 80 degrees there in the summer. It’s a five-hour plane ride from Baltimore. Reykjavik is a place to experience landscape. I stayed in small hotels and rooming houses. There’s very low traffic. The country has 285,000 people and one-half million sheep. They also have high-tech industries.
REZ: What projects are you working on now?
DB: I’m working on a photography project with digital imagery and ink jet printing. I flew over Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, Mount Baker, and Pacific Cascades. Now I’m making ink jet prints out of aerial photographs. In January, I’ll have a show at Ryder University at Lawrenceville, NJ, called Landscapes: Paint/Pixel.
REZ: What part of this project is happening now?
DB: I’m reviewing photos from the flyover and setting up for the show.
REZ: Where are you traveling next?
DB: I’m going to New Zealand. It has volcanoes. It would be in the winter, as they have reverse seasons.
REZ: What’s the most exciting volcano you’ve seen?
DB: It’s Kilauea, on Big Island, Hawaii. I watched the lava fall into water, saw steam, and could feel extreme heat. I explored this Island for two weeks. I flew, drove, and walked around this volcano. If you stood too long, your shoes would melt. In volcano terms, “The couch fell”. That means a portion of the volcano, the size of a football field, fell in colors of yellow, red, and white. I took photos from a helicopter (for aerial effects).
REZ: What is you favorite painting that you have kept for yourself?
DB: A diptych from Giverny about the pond and one about a volcanic eruption in Hawaii.
REZ: Thanks so much. Good to see you again. (Diane Burko has been a personal friend for years).
DB: Thank you.
Diane Burko and Earth Water Fire Ice
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Earth Water Fire Ice
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Earth Water Fire Ice
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Locks Gallery
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Earth Water Fire Ice
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Locks Gallery
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Earth Water Fire Ice
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Earth Water Fire Ice
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Earth Water Fire Ice
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Earth Water Fire Ice
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
Earth Water Fire Ice
Photo courtesy of Roberta Zlokower
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