As Hurricane Florence’s impact is felt in the Southeast, a new exhibit at Carbondale’s R2 Gallery showcases work created by a local artist who visited the Caribbean after Hurricane Irma last year. Mary Conover’s abstract paintings capture the complexity of natural disasters.
Conover paints almost exclusively in the Caribbean, and she considers it her second home. She says that she had never seen destruction like what she saw last year after Irma.
“The ocean had been churned up to the point where coastlines had been reconfigured, coral washed up on the beach, you could tell, it had just churned everything from the depths,” she said.
Conover hopes her work reminds people of the importance of climate and ocean health.
“The consequences of not respecting something like the vast oceans that we depend on -- we’re experiencing those consequences right now,” she said.
Conover’s work is on display alongside sculptures by Vicki Lee Johnston and Jim Johnson.
