Emily Carr
Wasteland, c. 1938
oil on canvas
82.4 x 117.0 cm
BG122

Carr frequently chose to paint not just nature, but industrialized nature in the form of the scars and "ruins" left by the logging industry. She was as interested in this encroachment as she was in abandoned native villages. Indeed, the themes were similar for her and are the darker side of her work. For while her paintings celebrate the restorative powers of the forest, she sees the works of man as futile and destructive.