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Hyperrealistic pastel drawings that show the melting icebergs in Greenland

American artist Zaria Forman creates stunning, large-scale pastel drawings made from photographs of polar landscapes that combine sublime romanticism, social consciousness, and modern abstraction.

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Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the artist

Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the artist

Documenting the melting icebergs in Greenland, as well as the changing glaciers of Antarctica – her works not only give beautiful visual access to far-off places that we might never visit, but also render the concept of climate change. But instead of any heavy-handed moralism, Forman instead suggests a contemplation of water, exploring the duality of the life-giving and destructive ocean.

Forman’s monochromatic palette allows for an intense focus on the blues, greys, and whites of water in its ever-shifting states. The work documents places where the effects of climate change are most tangible, and its quiet beauty instills a desire to protect the natural world. Amid important conversations on climate change that too often sway toward pessimism or worse, apathy, Forman presents a poetic and nuanced optimism.

The Winston Wächter Fine Art gallery in New York is presenting its first solo exhibition with Zaria Forman until 17th October 2015. Featuring intricate pastel drawings of ice and water in its various, shifting states, the show is a meditation on the role of climate change on Earth’s most common element.

Towering icebergs with layered, columnar formations float in calm blue-grey water beneath a dramatic cloudy sky in Greenland
Jagged ice spires with white peaks and pale blue bases reflect in calm grey water under an overcast sky, a pastel drawing by Zaria Forman documenting melting Greenland icebergs
Blue iceberg floating in still grey water under an overcast sky, a pastel drawing by Zaria Forman
Towering iceberg with white-streaked blue-grey face floating in dark water under a clouded sky
Choppy grey sea beneath overcast sky with a large iceberg visible on the right horizon
Icebergs floating in calm blue water with their reflections visible beneath a grey sky
Melting iceberg surrounded by rippling blue and white water in Greenland, rendered in soft pastels by Zaria Forman
Large blue and white icebergs floating in calm water beneath a cloudy sky, rendered in pastel by Zaria Forman
Snow-covered icebergs floating in deep blue water under a grey sky in Greenland
Jagged icebergs with white and blue ice formations floating in dark water beneath a grey sky
Icebergs and glaciers reflected in still waters under a grey sky in Greenland
Tall jagged icebergs with blue-grey striations rise from dark water beneath a pale sky in Zaria Forman's pastel drawing of melting Greenland ice
Turquoise iceberg with a natural arch at its base floating in dark water beneath stormy grey skies, a pastel drawing by Zaria Forman
Melting iceberg with striated blue and white layers reflected in calm Arctic water beneath grey sky
A large jagged iceberg with sheer white and blue faces floats in dark grey water against a cloudy sky
Towering iceberg with jagged, sculptural formations of white and pale blue ice rising above dark water under an overcast sky
Large iceberg with jagged white peaks and dark cavities floating in dark water against a grey sky
Artist Zaria Forman working on a large-scale pastel drawing of melting icebergs floating in water
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