Convento do Carmo

On the morning of November 1, 1755, Lisbon, Portugal was devastated by a massive earthquake. In just minutes, violent tremors destroyed an estimated 85% of the city followed by a tsunami and widespread fires. Among the many damaged churches, the ruins of the medieval Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel remain one of the few visible traces of that destruction. Its reconstructed walls and soaring, partially rebuilt arches now house the Carmo Archaeological Museum.

This series may be thought of as a follow up to my earlier Kasha-Katuwe serie. If the Lisbon ruins speak to catastrophe compressed into minutes, the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, about forty miles southwest of Santa Fe, tells a story measured in millions of years. 

Visits to both sites, each under brilliantly clear skies, inspired these paintings. Despite the drama of their origins, the works are less about architecture or geology than about something more immediate: the interplay of sharply defined white stone, deep shadow, and unbroken blue sky.