In this exhibition, artist Matt Bahen creates paintings that allude to themes and devices found in literature and film. He pulls from a breadth of sources—Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach trilogy and the Dune series to the fantasy films Stalker and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. They teem with ecological imagery—unsullied rivers and forest fires—coupled with biblical icons—burning bushes and armoured thistles. In effect, allusion and metaphor battle for meaning in the landscape. There is no easy reading of Bahen’s work; everything is restless and unfolding, which makes for an absorbing tension across each composition. We can also read them with awe over the sublime power of nature or through the lens of the Anthropocene, described as the beginning of the end of the world. This twist is similar to the literary tropes “enchanted forest” or “forbidden wood,” those mired homes of monsters in fairy tales and folklore, where the protagonist enters to discover themselves or become lost forever. Ultimately, Bahen's paintings are both beautiful and deceptive; they ask us to look closely at what is knowable and unknowable about the land and landscape.