We’ve just updated The Chicago Project page with our newest artist and recent Columbia College Chicago alum, Dan Bradica. Below are two of his photographs, both of which will be included in our upcoming show The Chicago Project IV: Selections from our Online Gallery [July 15 – September 3, 2011].

“My work involves disrupting the appearance of the natural environment to explore its relationship with artifice, control, and classification. I create photographs of temporary sculptures made from synthetic materials in managed forest preserves. Each sculptural form takes a shape complementary to its surroundings appearing in contrast to a depiction of the landscape that acknowledges the maintenance and control of civic land.

This project is a result of a personal desire for an idyllic wilderness within reach of my Midwestern home. With this work, I explore contained and illusive spaces that are shaped by their geographic location, yet appear separated from their immediate surroundings. This work attempts to examine our perceptions and interpretations of nature, further investigating our place within the ecosystem.”

—Dan Bradica