Samantha Scherer (Return to Scherer's Main Page)

Mad, Hopeless, and Possible

November, 2007

This exhibition consists of moderate sized watercolors inspired by the Antarctic expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the Endurance in 1914.

"My work seeks to simplify our fluid popular culture by focusing on legend, celebrity and the line between truth and fiction, especially as it is blurred by history and personal narrative... These investigations have led me to focus on historical personalities whose acts of heroism have been revived and explored through recent films, biographies and memoirs."

It is Shackleton's crew's fruitless efforts to free the ship from the crushing ice and their leisure activities in between these efforts that is the focus of the work in "Mad, Hopeless and Possible." The artist has used watercolor and the broad expanse of white paper to create a cinematic landscape. The spare drawings reflect the vast frozen sea punctuated by an ice-bound boat and men frozen in motion. The contrast between black watercolor and white paper mirrors the impossible task of keeping up morale in the face of insurmountable odds. It is this ultimate underdog story, so much a part of our current popular media, that is essentially at the core of the work in Mad, Hopeless, and Possible.

• For pricing and availability, please visit Scherer's Available Works page.

• For pricing and availability, please visit Scherer's Available Works page.