TAYLOE PIGGOTT GALLERY is pleased to present In the Ether, an exhibition of painting and watercolor by Nancy Diamond on view August 26th through September 18th, 2022.
Artist Nancy Diamond creates landscapes that appear to be primarily representational while at the same time they also seem to reflect a state of transformation. Single flowers often float untethered in the absolute center of the picture plane, without obvious means, in a clouded sky. In a watercolor and gouache on paper work, an owl with wings fully spread is painted a bit off-center while at the same time his gaze goes straight into the viewer's eyes.
Diamond's work is both familiar and mysterious. The paintings of Arthur Dove, Georgia O'Keefe and Helen Frankenthaler immediately come to mind. Her familiar yet enigmatic art speaks of Impressionism, Color Field, Abstraction and Minimalism.
Whether the inspiration is inanimate or living, Diamond's subjects are alive and in a state of transformation. The concreteness of the illusion in her images blurs boundaries between documenting nature and her own invention.
Nancy has explained her intentions in the following quote, "I create exploratory works that conjure scenes from the microscopic to a wide field of vision, precise in detail yet filled with abstract and hallucinatory alterations. From invention and observation in nature, I articulate color, pattern and form into a distinctly sensitized terrain. I am constantly observing my environment, cataloging and collecting visual information. My hope is to bring the viewer with me, to show the viewer what I see."
A long-time resident of New York City, Nancy now lives and works in upstate New York. She earned her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design with a double degree in painting and film. Her work has been shown in exhibitions nationally and internationally. She has received grants and awards from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts and the Marie Walsh Sharpe/Walenta space program residency.
-Written by Jacqueline Crist
