DESERT: over and over: Layla Luna

"Some folks don't find comfort within the structure of a home and family. Faraway destinations can't provide peace of mind either. Their contentment is only experienced when traveling the road between the two places. Desert: Over and Over is a body of work which explores that in-between space.

While working on a painting project of West Texas' Chisos Mountains, I was reminded of how much I missed the desert. It made me remember the solitude and vastness that a desert landscape imposes on a person. It is a haunting, comforting, and beautifully sad environment and the perfect example of a place that hovers between the security of home and the freedom of the unknown. It is neither "here" and it isn't quite "there".

Most can relate that without the monotonous domestic duties, without the tether of family obligation, without the burdens that a home imposes, there would be no need for escaping down desert dirt roads. And without the harshness and isolation of desert dirt roads, there would be no need for the security and shelter of home.

Desert: Over and Over, is a series of paintings on paper, canvas, and wood panels ranging in size from 15"x11" to 72"x48". Each painting depicts a similar expanse of land filled with sky, dirt, and desert scrub with variations in horizon lines and color palettes. The red curved line is a continuation from a previous body of work and represents the protection that home provides. In Desert, the curve takes on an added element of serving as a type of portal like a car window, allowing for a respite from both the confines of the mundane and the fear of what lies ahead." ~Layla Luna