Underground is part of the Interlude series, which came from a place of dark stillness, where any movement is slow and dreamlike. Interlude follows the overarching cycle of my work, with a perpetual containment and release of landscape, but this time with a certain heaviness. Naming the series “Interlude” was both a hope that this weight would pass, and a reference to a theater play, with the interlude as a short skit between acts, usually a somewhat comical diversion. I often incorporate a sense 

of unreality, absurdity, or humor in my work as a way to both interrupt beauty, and to acknowledge the folly of remaining in a never-ending cycle. 

Within a series cycle, each individual piece is often centered on a specific concern or struggle. This particular work visually references Lucas Arts games from the 90s, as I began to consider virtual worlds as a safer space, and imagined a landscape that would have a similar sense of unreality, but be emptied of all characters and pre-determined action. Underground is both a containment of landscape in a 

subterranean cavern, and an opportunity for movement, with a calm river serving as either a way out, or a way to travel deeper. The scene is intended to have an undetermined narrative, that could be calming and enticing, or somewhat dangerous. 

 -Hannah Wade