Erika Huddleston

THE RAMBLE, CENTRAL PARK

These paintings were made between July and November 2018. In a reversal of Frederick Law Olmsted’s “Journey through Texas” in which the East Coast landscape architect travelled to Texas in 1856-57 to report and write a book on the state, I left Texas and travelled up to New York City. I came to record Olmsted’s Central Park for which he won the design commission in 1858. In particular, I came to explore his 36 acre Ramble— which he called his “wooded garden”. Painting onsite, I collected data from the people I met as I worked. Having lived in New York for six years, I walked through the Ramble then and the mystery there led to my ongoing series in Texas of painting in public parks in cities which have areas of “wilderness”.

Landscape Recording Static/Dynamic: Central Park, The Ramble VII, New York, New York
oil, gold pigment, rabbit skin glue gesso on two panels
7.5in x 10 in each, 2018