LandEscape Art Review // Special Issue | Page 132

Land scape
Carol Elkovich
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
the only way to express and convey the idea you explore .
Artistic practices of the 21st Century encompass a wider field of media and expressive modes than ever before accepted in Western art history . It is an exciting era to be an artist but myriad choices also have the potential to make work rather decentered . For example , prior to the 20th century only sculpture made from stone or cast metal was accepted as High Art ( wood and clay were considered lesser mediums ). Historically , the most organic synergetic creative practices were developed within indigenous subsistence cultures . In the early 20th Century when Modernist artists were exposed that art outside of Western academic traditions — a legacy of artistic movements began that would continue to challenge and defy prior definitions of High Art . This legacy opened wide the gamut of mediums and legitimized ( eventually ) expanded modes of artistic practice . Against this historical backdrop , it is my opinion that any relevant artist in the 21st Century embraces hybrid practices , possesses an acute awareness of context , and creates a process containing experiential underpinnings that refuse to be static . Personally , I thrive on the notion of a nonhierarchical art practice and the various forms of my work are linked through concept . It is natural for me to merge art , design , craft , architecture , writing , and film into my practice — it is the combination of media that is