Night Fishing At Moms 2015

Russ Warren’s mixed media artwork, "Night Fishing At Moms", presents us with a playful yet unsettling composition, a formal structure in three panels. The panels blend sea creatures rendered in bold colors, which are contained by geometric shapes and lines. The flat space and repeated motifs create a visual rhythm, where elements like spirals and sharks compete for our attention. The work destabilizes conventional representation of marine life. Warren uses a semiotic system of signs: sharks aren’t menacing but almost cartoonish, the fishing rods are awkwardly angled, which challenges fixed notions of how we perceive the natural world. The artist engages with contemporary ideas about the environment, filtered through a lens of pop culture. The artist plays with form and meaning and prompts us to re-evaluate our relationship with the ocean. The seemingly simple, decorative elements invite deeper reflection on our cultural values.