PLATO presents Eleanor Mahin Thorp: Bend of the Southern Cross. The work of the Brooklyn-based artist, rooted in childhood observations of Persian animism and mining industries, examines how landscapes are abstracted and reimagined through extraction and mythology. Bend of the Southern Cross is the result of Thorp's research in the Atacama region in northern Chile, which is made of delicate ecosystems, including bacteria emitting enormous amounts of oxygen. This landscape is at risk, being a major source of copper and lithium-key components used in technology responsible for the AI revolution. Informed by on-site photos and sketches, Thorp layers pigment and mineral matter to reconstruct strata and surfaces, co-creating with the subject itself. The resulting works, with their rich, complex surfaces, evoke the metaphysical and mysterious qualities of the landscape while recognizing its fragile nature in light of the industry's encroachment on its ecological and animistic power.
