The Hots Spots series was Ranna's response to the launch of the Iraq war. Her first piece in the series (not shown here) was a premonition. The momentum towards the Iraq war was inconceivable and incomprehensible to her artist's mind and sensibilities. Although Ranna marched with thousands in Washington D.C. (and was challenged by friends in Australia for living in America at such a time), it was through art that she was able to shift her response into a more universal statement, something more enduring, a response that, on the surface, simply showed people the beauty of the lands involved... The premise was simple: Viewed from satellite height, the protagonists' areas of the world are so extraordinarily beautiful. Yet the beauty belies what lies on the ground. At ground level, these environments are harsh and people were and are dying, being killed. The Earth was being contaminated. At ground level, three countries whose fates were now inextricably linked through their participation in this war, whether as aggressor or defender - Mesopotamia, Australia, and America - all share desert lands within their borders, and incredible heat, fires, and nuclear contamination within their deserts. The first image illustrated below (top left) includes the amazing shape of the immense sandstorm that blew through the entire Gulf region at the beginning of the Iraq war, as though even nature was trying to prevent what had been launched. (Click the thumbnail to go to a larger image to see the shape more clearly.) The red spots in the paintings are an artefact of the satellite imagery informing this series. They connote literal "hot spots" where the heat from oil fires, bombing fires, or wild fires on Earth's surface is so intense that it shows up as red marks on the satellite image. It was uncanny that at the time that the first waves of bombing were vollied at Iraq, there were huge fires in Australia's deserts and in the American South West (and multiple fires in Texas). Viewed from afar, even they, and even the smoke trails of oil fires after bombing hold an eerie, ethereal quality...

INQUIRIES

YEAR: all created in 2003;
THUMBNAIL CODE: C = mixed & refractive media on canvas; P = mixed & refractive media on paper.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Satellite images informing the Hot Spots series were referred to with the
permission of NASA's MODIS satellite imaging project.

	Images with gray borders are clickable links to enlargements, some with shimmer views.		COMMENTARY ARTIST'S STATEMENT Copyright notice
Hot Spot(s) (15) (Mesopotamia - Dust Storm Over Gulf region) 152cm x 122cm/ 60" x 48" (C)	Hot Spot(s) (12) (Mesopotamia) 65cm x 91cm/ 26.5" x 36" (C)	Hot Spot(s) (13) (Mesopotamia - Smoke trail from Oil Fire after Bombing) 91cm x 65cm / 36" x 26.5" (C)	Hot Spot(s) (14) - Desert Lion, Desert Lamb (Mesopotamia) 91cm x 65cm / 36" x 26.5" (C)
Hot Spot (16) (The American South West) 66cm x 38cm / 26" x 15" (C)	Hot Spot(s) (17) (The American South West) 65cm x 91cm/ 26.5" x 36" (C)	Hot Spot(s) (18) (Central Australia) 66cm x 38cm / 26" x 15" (C)	Hot Spot (19) (Central Australia - Maralinga) 91cm x 65cm / 36" x 26.5" (C)
Hot Spot (20) (Central Australia - Dust storm towards Lake Eyre) 78cm x 91cm / 31" x 36" (C)	Hot Spot(s) (21) (The American South West) 152cm x 122cm/ 60" x 48" (C)	Hot Spot(s) (22) (Central Australia) 152cm x 122cm/ 60" x 48" (C)	Hot Spot(s) (8) (Mesopotamia) 60cm x 45cm / 24" x 18" (P)
Hot Spot(s) (9) (Mesopotamia) 60cm x 45cm / 24" x 18" (P)	Hot Spot(s) (10) (Mesopotamia) 45cm x 60cm / 18" x 24" (P)	Hot Spot(s) (11) (Mesopotamia) 60cm x 45cm / 24" x 18" (P)	Hot Spot(s) (3) (Mesopotamia) 30cm x 26cm / 15" x 11" (P)
Hot Spot(s) (4) (Mesopotamia) 30cm x 26cm / 15" x 11" (P)	Hot Spot(s) (5) (Mesopotamia) 26cm x 30cm/ 11" x 15" (P)	Hot Spot(s) (6) (Mesopotamia) 30cm x 26cm / 15" x 11" (P)	Hot Spot(s) (7) (Mesopotamia) 30cm x 26cm / 15" x 11" (P)
Plus selected figurative works
Untitled 91cm x 65cm / 36" x 26.5" (C)	Untitled 65cm x 91cm/ 26.5" x 36" (C)	Untitled 65cm x 91cm/ 26.5" x 36" (C)	Untitled 91cm x 65cm / 36" x 26.5" (C)
	FOR EXAMPLES OF WORK FROM 2002, CLICK HERE

The Hot Spots works are inspired by satellite images courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center.

UPDATE: New location for Gallery 482

INQUIRIES / PURCHASES

Hot Spots is presented at Gallery 482 by Ranna^® Arts Incorporated (LLC).

Press report re Ranna's May - July USA exhibition

Other work: 1978 - 2000

Other work: 2000 - 2002

ENLARGEMENTS

Ranna^® is an international trademark registered with the U.S.P.T.O.
Work by Ranna^® exhibited at any location is provided by Ranna^® Arts Incorporated (LLC).

 

ARTIST'S STATEMENT, 30 YEARS IN ART, EXHIBITION CODE, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS etc - NEXT

Ranna^® is an international trademark registered with the U.S.P.T.O.
Work by Ranna^® exhibited at any location is provided by Ranna^® Arts Incorporated (LLC).

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Copyright over the artworks and related material rests with the artist and owner of the trademarkRANNA ®. MORE COPYRIGHT INFO.

Dr Ranna-Lesley Lachlan (PhD, RPP, VCST, BFA, Grad. D. Mat. Anth.) RANNA® ARTS INCORPORATED (LLC)		MAIL PO Box 971, Stephens City, VA 22655, U.S.A. Ph: USA (540) 533-5403