Nathan Birch uses landscape as a vehicle to express his views on the illusory and ironic aspects of representational art.  Traditionally, landscape paintings are windows to the outside world. The artist attempts to capture in paint not only the details of a particular place but the emotional tenor evoked by that place. While great landscape paintings transports the viewer to a different place and/or time Nathan Birch believes there is an innate dishonesty in the process.

To defy the illusion of a “real” landscape, the artist splits his scenes into one or more parts – each painting is made up of two or more separate canvases. His insistence on the wall between his canvases serves as an obstacle the viewer must overcome. The wall is a constant reminder of what we truly are looking at. The artist takes advantage of the opportunities provided by using multiple canvases for each painting. While this means that each individual piece of the greater painting will often not work on its own, the relationship between the canvases plays an important role in the overall painting. Each canvas is a character foil for the others in the group. The differences between each panel are dramatic or subtle. In composition and subject the panels mirror or mimic each other.

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