chris hernandez - "go nuclear" canvas paintings

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CHRIS HERNANDEZ Go NuclearCanvas Paintings These works deal with processes and capabilities which, when unleashed, not only change their surroundings, but also the individuals who interact with them. Spectators appreciate potential danger if safely viewed from afar. There is an awe or dread of enormous and overwhelming forces taking place. On one hand, we abhor danger, but we appreciate a spectacle if we can see it disconnectedly within the protected walls of our homes, or as a tiny photo in a book or via the internet; separated by both time and place. We can also appreciate the beauty which takes place if such events occur in a completely different context so as to imply some form of safety, or if the occurrences are too distant to seem relevant. The irony is that this distance is what indicates whether an event is terrible or not. In the Twentieth Century, the local disruptions society has experienced, which have brought much pain, death and suffering, pale in scope and size to those far away, remote ones witness beyond the confines of our planet. These series of paintings illustrate the various events and processes associated with the atomic forces and make a comparison between types of nuclear events. Furthermore, the series depicts an association with some of the often overlooked occurrences of the nuclear process which seem nonthreatening only due to their extreme distances from us. The work highlights the grand physical processes which take place on enormous scales but without any of the social, moral or environmental attachments people put onto them because of turbulent geopolitical histories and technological disasters. These works are not a commentary about the state of nuclear power, weapons, or technologies. They are a detached observation of both the natural and unnatural nuclear reactions, and our interactions with them. The works bring safety to a dangerous situation and sterilize a normally threatening occurrence.

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Page 1: Chris Hernandez - "go nuclear" canvas paintings

CHRIS HERNANDEZ “Go Nuclear” Canvas Paintings

These works deal with processes and capabilities which, when unleashed, not only change their

surroundings, but also the individuals who interact with them. Spectators appreciate potential

danger if safely viewed from afar. There is an awe or dread of enormous and overwhelming forces

taking place. On one hand, we abhor danger, but we appreciate a spectacle if we can see it

disconnectedly within the protected walls of our homes, or as a tiny photo in a book or via the

internet; separated by both time and place. We can also appreciate the beauty which takes place if

such events occur in a completely different context so as to imply some form of safety, or if the

occurrences are too distant to seem relevant. The irony is that this distance is what indicates

whether an event is terrible or not. In the Twentieth Century, the local disruptions society has

experienced, which have brought much pain, death and suffering, pale in scope and size to those far

away, remote ones witness beyond the confines of our planet.

These series of paintings illustrate the various events and processes associated with the atomic

forces and make a comparison between types of nuclear events. Furthermore, the series depicts an

association with some of the often overlooked occurrences of the nuclear process which seem

nonthreatening only due to their extreme distances from us. The work highlights the grand physical

processes which take place on enormous scales but without any of the social, moral or

environmental attachments people put onto them because of turbulent geopolitical histories and

technological disasters. These works are not a commentary about the state of nuclear power,

weapons, or technologies. They are a detached observation of both the natural and unnatural

nuclear reactions, and our interactions with them. The works bring safety to a dangerous situation

and sterilize a normally threatening occurrence.

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