Athena LaTocha is an Alaska-born artist whose work explores the relationship between natural landscapes and human-made environments.

She is drawn not only to wilderness areas and national parks but also to mines, oil fields, and quarries--places where humans extract power and energy from the land.

LaTocha begins each project by researching the geological and cultural history of a specific place and then going directly to the land to observe and listen intently to what it might reveal.

She compiles a bank of digital images, videos, and sound recordings to evoke memories of her experiences, and gathered materials to use in creating the work.

LaTocha then unfurls large rolls of paper on the floor and immerses herself in the painting, working from the inside out and using earth-toned inks, soil, and industrial solvents that she applies to the surface using tools such as tire shreds, scrap metal, and bricks.

LaTocha's life-size lead imprints, which straddle the lines between drawing, painting and sculpture, convey the mystery and power embedded in ancient places that are both a natural wonder and a site of industrialization.

She molds thin sheets of lead into and around rock faces, or trees, and takes these impressions back to her studio, where she transforms them into works.

Much of her practice is rooted in the direct experience of wilderness, the untrampled landscape, the unyielding power of nature, and the human intervention inflicted upon the earth—a reworking of the natural world.

LaTocha finds this contrast both captivating and troubling. As we harness the earth's power and deplete its once-abundant resources, we sometimes forget that it is also a living thing. LaTocha notes: "As a species, we are always working towards advancement and refinement. I think we sometimes forget in our doing so that nature, raw and untamed, is what we need to stay close to in order to understand our place and way in the world and within the cosmos."

Burning, Sulphuric, Violent was created while LaTocha was in residence at Silver Art Projects nearby the new performing arts center that is rising in the World Trade Center complex.

She was fascinated by the materials and systems used to erect the structure, and sand from the site has made its way directly into her composition. Her abstract imagery conjures up not just impressions of the massive construction site, but also layers of memories of forest fires she experienced in Alaska, coupled with views of the sunset over the Hudson, as well as rust, and grit, and weather-worn exteriors that convey the passing of time.

LaTocha recently completed Bulbancha (Green Silence), 2019 during a recent residency at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans.

She spent many hours observing the unique landscape of Louisiana, which inspired the composition. Spanish moss and mud from the Mississippi River are worked into the materials.

Initiated outdoors on the desert floor near Santa Fe, Thirteen Days retains a trace of the weather and natural elements in the gestures captured on the paper.

Ozark, 2018, incorporates lead impressions from the Arkansas landscape, a place that was an important site along the Trail of Tears as well as the Civil War.