Beacon artist depicts Earth under siege

Zac Skinner walks the talk. Concerned about environmental degradation, he takes his young sons to remove trash along the banks of the Hudson River and donates a portion of his art sales to the nonprofit Earthjustice.

No surprise then, that his symbolic paintings are saturated with stark reminders that the Earth is under siege. In two of them, oil pipelines guide the eye. In "Pop-up Farm with Vortex," a maelstrom threatens a ziggurat.

"I'm going for post-industrial landscape," Skinner says. "They can be dark, but I intend them to be a hopeful dark."

Skinner, 43, is one of three artists featured in a group show, Home is Where the Heart Is, on display at the Garrison Art Center through March 9. He will also participate in an artist talk with Amy Cheng, Erik Schoonebeck and Greg Slick at the art center at 2 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 22).

A practicing Buddhist whose work reflects his travels in Asia, Skinner enjoys camping and many of his pictures depict structures in the wilderness, like a pyramid, temple, monastery or wooden meditation hut.

"For the smaller ones, I like to feature a prominent entryway to make them more inviting and inhabitable," he says. "They provide a sense of hope and a safe space as shelter from the storm."

Hailing from the Syracuse area, Skinner earned an MFA from The School at the Art Institute of Chicago. Since moving to Beacon in 2014, he's used the area as a launch pad to show works in Texas, California and Korea.

In addition to exhibiting in group shows at Kube Art Center and the former Theo Ganz Studio, he has mounted solo shows at the BAU Gallery and the now-closed Matteawan Gallery, all in Beacon, as well as the Garrison Art Center.

A solo show at No. 3 Reading Room in Beacon led to a limited-edition book, Atlas Trap, published by Traffic Street Press. Owner Paulette Myers-Rich paired Skinner's relief prints of endangered species with poetry by Greg Delanty in a 40-copy print run.

As a painter, Skinner works with many media, including tempera, egg-based paints used widely until the Renaissance. Some of the bleaker works are created with special charcoal, like "Cliff Shelter No. 1 with Storm Clouds," on view at Garrison Art Center.

"Abandoned Hut by Dried Steam Bed"

"Atmosphere Bubble and Ruins in a Dead Landscape"

"Cliff Dwellers with Aloe Vera Garden"

"Cliff Shelter No. 1 with Storm Clouds"

"Pop-up Farm with Vortex"

"Survival Camp with Water Collector, Kale and Oil Pipeline"

His approach also hops around. "The alchemist in me likes to experiment with materials and depictions," he says. "I don't have a style, really, I just keep inventing my way through the images."

Some pieces feature charred landscapes, barren trees and lots of stumps. Clouds are often ominous. The ones gathering in "Abandoned Hut by Dried Stream Edge" (on view in Garrison) and "Survival Camp with Water Collectors, Kale and Oil Pipeline," evoke Van Gogh's swirling brush style.

The large dabs that make up the majestic purple mountains in "Atmosphere Bubble and Ruins in a Dead Landscape," which hangs in his studio at Kube, also channel the Dutch master. The painting's pillars could represent Stonehenge or the detritus of an abandoned highway overpass.

"The goal with the overt message is to prevent indifference over time," he says. "I am compelled to represent myself, and my convictions, to inspire inner strength."

The Garrison Art Center, at 23 Garrison's Landing, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except Monday.