Diane Burko has traveled to every continent to paint and photograph vast landscapes and monumental geological phenomenon. From ship to satellite; Cessna seaplane to helicopter, the sources for Burko’s art are as wide-ranging as her travels.
Join ASHM for Nordic Changes: Works by Diane Burko. This show features dramatic images of Greenland, Iceland, and Svalbard from the last twenty years of Burko's career. Following the landscape painting tradition, Burko invites the viewer to take in the sweep of these monumental Arctic landscapes. But this modern view poses a new challenge - will these glaciers disappear?
Burko's recent work highlights the impacts of climate change on this fragile region. She began her focus on threats to the environment by referencing scientific imagery such as NASA satellite images. Burko soon realized the need to “bear witness” to these changes, sailing around Norway’s remote Svalbard islands in 2013. In 2014, she returned to the Arctic, visiting Greenland's Ilulissat and Eqi Sermia glaciers. She has been to Iceland four times since 2002, flying over and exploring its glacial interior. Blending information and image; statistics and skill, Burko’s work shows how artists can be agents for eco-activism.