Alpine

I view my practice as a mountaineer as a reflection of my practice as a visual artist. Both require creative problem solving while being in a state of flow; both honor mystery and awe as visceral, foundational experiences; and both engender gratitude. It is on the steep edges of the alpine world that the sublime and the catastrophic reside increasingly close to one another at the dawn of the Anthropocene. Beauty and loss fill the same space, often at the same time. Colorado’s few remaining glaciers grow smaller with every passing year, even as Western wildfires become more frequent and destructive. My work tries to navigate this reality, seeking the wonder still present in a damaged world.

If you'd like to follow my process as both an alpinist and an artist, I chronicle the intersection of these practices on my Instagram account, @andrewbeckham_photography