Palms through the dash

Phillip Van

Phillip Van observes the Los Angeles landscape through the rhythmic frame of a commute, finding a quiet geometry in the city's iconic silhouettes. This photograph captures the lean of palm trees as they flicker past a dashboard, turning a routine drive into a study of motion and verticality.

Palms through the dash — framed, leaning against the wall
Phillip Van

Palms through the dash

Phillip Van observes the Los Angeles landscape through the rhythmic frame of a commute, finding a quiet geometry in the city's iconic silhouettes. This photograph captures the lean of palm trees as they flicker past a dashboard, turning a routine drive into a study of motion and verticality.

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£41.99
WALL ELEVATION

35 × 28 cm · about ⅙ the width of a 3-seat sofa

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Palms through the dash

Phillip Van

Art Analysis

The rhythmic pulse of a Los Angeles commute.

In this landscape composition, Van leans into the specific visual language of Los Angeles, where the horizon is often defined by the windshield and the sky is segmented by the pillars of a car. The palms appear as dark, feathered strokes against the light, their repetitive forms creating a sense of cinematic pacing that mirrors the experience of navigating the city's sprawling grid.

By shooting through the dash, the artist grounds the viewer in a particular moment of transit, favoring the honest perspective of a traveler over a polished postcard view. The interplay between the interior shadows of the vehicle and the bright, expansive exterior highlights the layered reality of life in Southern California, where the natural world is almost always filtered through the lens of urban infrastructure.

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About the Artist

Phillip Van

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