Page 8 - WTP Vol. X #2

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“Pulling imagery and motif from organic form, architecture,
media, and design, I create densely layered, mixed-media paintings that are invested in experimentation and grounded in tradi-
tional painting and craft. I’m interested in the overlap of nature and culture and the patterns present in both, as well as the color and spatial relationships that develop through process.
“Using painting and printmaking techniques, I inter- weave drawing and collage with a variety of media. Simultaneously painterly and constrained, my paint-
ings are composed of complex layers, many of which are over-painted and concealed. A prominent element of my work is the application of thousands of beads
of paint, painstakingly and individually applied with a brush and used to create screens and patterns. My work is best described as abstract painting with botanical and architectural references, as the pieces suggest natural forms (birds, leaves, branches), man made structures (buildings, windows, lights), and patterning both natural and designed (woven fabrics, strata of earth, pixels).
“My paintings are visual collections of moments from daily life: combined glimpses, thoughts, memories, and objects. I am trying to describe not only what things look like through the filter of my personal perspective, but also to create a sense of how they might feel. My works are emotional and imperfect, and as objects they embody my direct response to things mass produced and idealized. As handmade things, they are individual, imprecise, and therefore unique. Perfection is unat- tainable, which is the inherent quality that continues to engage me in painting.”
NiNa Tichava