There’s a palpable sense of foreboding in the American landscapes of James Casebere, as though something bad is just around the corner for the lonely inhabitants of his sparsely populated locations. The eerie feeling is no accident, for the artist’s new works are centred around climate change and the environmental impact of mankind. The good news is that nothing terrible can happen to Casebere’s landscapes that can’t be fixed with a bit of glue and some balsa wood, for the scenes are photographs of superbly detailed scale models.

So why does Casebere go to all the trouble of painstakingly creating facsimiles when he could more easily shoot the real places? Good question. The models have a fragile quality; both the buildings that represent man’s stamp on the natural world, and the natural world itself, are vulnerable things that could crack or crumble at any moment as the two forces trade blows. Galerie Daniel Templon in Brussels is exhibiting this collection until 12 April.

James Casebere,
Landscape with Houses (Dutchess County, NY) #11, 2011-14,
Digital fine art pigment print,
50,5 x 54,9 x 2,9 cm

James Casebere,
Cloudy/Sunny Skies, 2013,
Digital fine art pigment print,
107, 3 x 89,2 cm

James Casebere,
Falling House with Fire (for MK), 2012,
Digital fine art pigment print mounted to Dibond,
81,9 x 98,1 x 5,1 cm

James Casebere,
Dusk on Exeter Road, 2013,
Digital fine art pigment print,
30 x 45 in.