Barry Underwood

Orange, 2007.

There is something both magical and mysterious about artist Barry Underwood's work. While it's true that he creates colorful, surreal light installations within natural landscapes, that's really just the beginning. It's the photographs that Underwood then takes of these installations, which he approaches with a cinematic eye for detail and effect, that are the true works of art.

 Ferns (for Francesca), 2012.

Rodeo Beach, 2009.

Parade Field, 2009.

Trace (Yellow), 2008.

As Underwood explains in his artist's statement:

These images are documentations of full-scale installations that are built on-site in the landscape. Using illusion, imagination, and narrative, my photographs explore the potential of the ordinary. I approach my photographic work with a theatrical sensibility, much like a cinematographer or set designer would. By reading the landscape and altering the vista through lights and photographic effects, I transform everyday scenes into unique images. Light and color alter the perception of space, while defamiliarizing common objects. Space collapses, while the lights that I install appear as intrusions and interventions. This combination renders the forms in the landscape abstract. Inspired by cinema, land art, and contemporary painting, the resulting photographs are both surreal and familiar. They suggest a larger narrative, and yet that narrative remains elusive and mystifying. 

See much more of Underwood's incredible art on his website, right here.

(Via designboom)