Enigmatic landscapes and metaphysical scenes unfold in the work of Gideon Kiefer. On canvas and panel, the artist paints countrysides dotted with small fires, pensive figures, and natural phenomena seemingly detached from reality by varying degrees, such as a wave crashing inside of an architectural enclosure or a chunk of purple-tinted landscape floating inside of a celestial cube.

Kiefer is interested in the nature of time and the way we mark its passing. Many of the mysterious notations and framing devices he adds around his esoteric tableaux resemble quickly-scribbled notes, as if for remembering something important, or poetic extracts from diary entries.

At first glance, Kiefer’s scenes often present an initial sense of familiarity or recognition, but the longer one studies the composition, comprehension is gradually dismantled. Notes in the margins may or may not feel relevant, like a doodle on the edge of a document. Or perhaps the phrases and numbers are clues to some arcane puzzle, in which Kiefer presents seemingly disparate pieces for us to try to reassemble.

Within his spatially strange compositions, Kiefer incorporates themes around the climate crisis. As sea levels rise due to melting ice caps and weather patterns change due to warmer temperatures—among myriad other effects—ecological changes and disruptions increasingly affect not only the planet’s flora and fauna but our own communities.

In Kiefer’s atmospheric paintings, stormy waves, mercurial skies, monumental icebergs, and intense fires mirror how the planet is transforming. His pieces also consider how we remember both what has already happened to the planet and acknowledge what is happening right now.

See more on the artist’s website and Instagram.