This page is referenced by:

• 1 media/ocean.png 2022-11-30T22:06:10+00:00 The Art of Creating Nature - Taylor Frazier 11 plain 2022-12-15T01:25:36+00:00

  Nature has been the inspiration for art since the very beginning of cave drawings in Lascaux. Used as a universal inspiration for us all, we seek and return to nature for unity. With artists like Courbet, Monet, and Van Gogh, nature has been used to create a scene in which the artist is familiar with. What were once Impressionist landscapes, transformed into abstract art depicting nature and human nature (Fernández-Galiano). In my exhibition, four contemporary and modern artists turn to something familiar to us all. Art that is an expression of what nature is in the artist’s mind. 

  Today, in the creations of these artists, we see the blur between art and nature. Art that breaks the boundaries between art and nature. My idea behind bringing these pieces together is to showcase how these four women artists implement this into their works. Nature has become more than just the still-life that is essential in an artist’s beginning career. To these artists, it is everything to the work. Each in their unique styles, the artists in my exhibition have created their own nature through their mediums creating a nostalgic feeling viewers are interested in (Fernández-Galiano). In symbols of nature comes the feeling of nostalgia signifying something that cannot be recaptured, but something familiar and safe (Boren, 2013). Although these pieces represent all sorts of natural creations and realms, they relate with one another in that they all come from the world around us. Bringing these pieces together, it is a reminder to the relationship of humans and the nature that is all around, inspiring us all.

  An Artist from the Escalette Collection: Mary E. Beierle

  
  Mary E. Beierle grew up in Los Angeles, exploring oceans and mountains around the American West. In school, she was granted funds to study Alaskan glaciers, Paleolithic cave drawings and sculpture, along with studying art in China, Italy, and Korea (Voyage LA). Through these experiences, she became interested in geology and nature, which has become the major influence in her work. Her education is interesting in that she was able to study not just art, but history and nature in these areas. With her work, she is interested in creating an experience that the viewer is able to interact with through a variety of perspectives, touch, and look into (Beierle). With her Escalette piece, it is presented in a fully glass case, allowing the viewer to walk around the piece and see it from various angles. Similar to how you would be able to with the nature around us. I love that she says she wants to include this aspect of interaction with her art, because it is so unique. We have been taught not to touch art because it is illegal at the end of the day, but Mary wants her sculpture to be touched and experienced at multiple angles, if the setting allows for it. I feel this is very humanizing, and makes the pieces even more naturalistic by allowing them to be more consumed by the viewer. Beierle and the other artists in this exhibition, delve into new perspectives of nature, and allow for the viewer to embrace nature through manmade art. 
  
  

  ​​​​​​
  In this piece from the Escallate collection, Mary E. Beierle has made an object symbolic of something from the sea. With its pearlescent glaze and light, natural colors, it looks like a seashell. Beierle’s folding in the porcelain, is a representation of flowering as a symbol of transcendence (Beierle). She is inspired by the power of nature and its power to uplift us. This sculpture is one of those pieces that makes the viewer question if it is man-made art or if it is created by nature. Using her talent on the potter’s wheel, she begins her Excavation Series with the Fibonacci sequence, a sequence often found in nature (Beierle). The Fibonacci sequence can be illustrated as a spiral with squares representing the widths of the numbers in the sequences (Sheldon).The Fibonacci sequence is a set of integers that begins with a zero, followed by a one, another one, and then by a series of increasing numbers, where each number is equal to the sum of the preceding two numbers. This pattern shows up everywhere in nature including flowers, hurricanes, galaxies in space, and now here, in artwork. By beginning with an idea rooted in the natural world, it furthers the idea to the viewer that it could be an object found in nature. Beierle’s idea of nature having the power to be uplifting, translates well into the piece creating an experience for the viewer to be brought into the sea just by viewing the piece.With this, nature is not only a direct inspiration to this piece, but it is another part working in its creation (Todorov, 7). 

  
  
  
  Georgia O’Keefe is known for her paintings of nature including flowers, seashells, and mountains. Throughout her life, she would often pick up seashells on walks along the beach and keep them to study to create her paintings (Met). Paintings such as Two Pink Shells and Clam and Mussel are just some of the many that have been inspired by the very nature she collected. O’Keefe would make annual trips to New Mexico to paint in solitude and find new subjects such as the deep red mountains we see in this piece, or the animal bones she has become known for. In this piece, you can see her interest in the nature of New Mexico mountains as well as her interest in delicate, detailed objects like seashells. I feel like this piece belongs along with my exhibition because of the Fibonacci sequence spiral it features, similar to the Beirele piece. It depicts a seashell, which really reminds me of the sea-like sculptures in the Excavation Series by Beierle. She uses colors one would see in nature, like the deep ochre of canyons and mountains and the pearl-like white for the shell. Like Beierle, O’Keefe was interested in bringing viewers into the realm of a new world through her art. In that way, it feels almost surrealist. Not only is she mixing two different natural spaces with the sea and desert mountains, but she is simultaneously combining her own worlds together, creating her own nature. 

  
  ​​af Klint created pieces that were inspired by nature creating landscapes and botanical works. Unlike my other pieces in the exhibition, this piece does not feel directly like nature in front of you. Instead it reminds me of human nature and life itself. af Klint’s series, “The Ten Largest” includes flowers, letters, and spirals to convey the exploration of the human life cycle, from childhood and youth to adulthood and old age (Bunyan). Although her art does not directly represent the nature that inspired the other artists in my exhibition, she was inspired more by the evolution of humans through life in this series. She emulates the feelings of chaos and glory growing up and human nature through organic shape, cursive letters, and color. Some have even described the series as a visual poem. For af Klint, art was about creating beyond just what the eyes can see (Bunyan). What she is known for, was her supposed connection to a higher level of consciousness which inspired her in her art. She would often describe creating her pieces as something that “came to her” (Bunyan). She is unlike the other artists in my exhibition in that way as well, by creating her own perspective and elements to what she sees as nature. Nostalgia can sometimes be transcendent (Boren, 2013). I think this is what makes af Klint unique in this piece. She is drawing upon the nature of being a human by reflecting on childhood. With it’s organic shapes and pastel colors, it feels like an something beyond the existing world, much like the imagination of a child. Making the title Childhood, af Klint wants to transport the audience into a time from their past, and remind them of human nature's beautiful abilities. 

  
  
  
  

  Coming back into contemporary art, this sculpture work by Sandra Davolio is another piece that transports the viewer into something familiar. Sandra is an artist who was born in 1974 born in Italy, and later moved to Denmark. In an interview by Homo Faber, she mentions that she was never interested in the Danish Minimalism movement, as she is more interested in things that are more vivid and wild. She is interested in taking classic forms and transforming them into something more fragile (Lohmann Gallery). With vivid, wild, and fragile in mind, she turns to nature to create coral-esque ceramic forms (Bryant, 2016). Davolio enjoys creating with ceramics because much like coral and plants, it is fragile and able to create and represent frail subjects (Homo Faber). She is inspired by Etruscan and Mediterranean artwork, going back to ancient civilizations with their sculpture work and “refined” beauty (Modernity). You can see these points of inspiration, as most of her work follows this refined, white and blue color palette and is sleek with the appearance of movement. Like coral, this piece is delicate and even more fragile to create. Davolio often has to restart her pieces after having to throw them away with how fragile the porcelain is (Modernity). She captures movement like nature would, with the way her ceramics fold and crease naturally. Davolio says, “I add my part of expression by allowing the surface of the piece its own life of growth and movement” (Modernity). In this way, she allows her piece to create a life of its own, allowing the porcelain to bend and move as it needs and adding her own details (Homo Faber). In this Vessel, it looks very similar to coral, with its thin waves of porcelain and detailed texture along the edges. To a viewer, Davolios art may feel natural to them, as it is an object that looks like it belongs to the ocean. Again, drawing upon symbols we can all recognize, bringing up the feeling of nostalgia. 
  
  ​​​​​​Although the discussion of nature as a point of inspiration in art has been a centuries long thought, it is becoming more and more blended. From cave drawings to modern art, to now contemporary, nature has always made its way through the artist’s mind. Depicting what is around us has always seemed like the easy answer to find inspiration, but through creating this exhibition, I have seen how modern and contemporary artists have paved their own way through nature in art. I believe they are creating new perspectives of nature and changing the way we look at artwork. By seeing art that looks so familiar to nature in an art space, I believe it reminds the viewer of the value of nature and the power it holds to us. These artists have looked through new lenses, and allowed for their viewers to discover new realms of nature through art. 

  References

  Beierle, M. E. (n.d.). About. mebstudio. Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://www.marybeierle.com/about

  Boren, Z. (2013). The Nature of Nostalgia. Contemporary Psychotherapy. from https://www.contemporarypsychotherapy.org/volume-5-issue-1-spring-2013/the-nature-of-nostalgia/ 

  Bunyan, M. (2020, July). Hilma af Klint the ten largest. Art Blart. Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://artblart.com/tag/hilma-af-klint-the-ten-largest/

  Discover Sandra Davolio, artisan porcelain maker in Copenhagen. Homo Faber. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://www.homofaber.com/en/discover/artisans-sandra-davolio

  Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986). Metmuseum.org. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/geok/hd_geok.htm

   Fernándo-Galiano, E. (Ed.). (2000). The Representation of Nature in Art. Council of Europe, Centre Naturopa. 

  J. Lohmann Gallery. (n.d.). Sandra Davolio Vessel with Blue Edges IV . Design Miami. Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://www.designmiami.com/product/vessel-with-blue-edges-iv

  Meet trailblazer Mary E. Beierle . Voyage LA. (2019, January). Retrieved December 3, 2022, from http://voyagela.com/interview/meet-trailblazer-mary-e-beierle/ 

  Sheldon, R. (2022, May 6). What is the Fibonacci sequence and how does it work? WhatIs.com. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Fibonacci-sequence 

  Spotlight on Danish ceramist Sandra Davolio. Modernity. (2016, November 29). from https://www.modernity.se/magazine/spotlight-on-danish-ceramist-sandra-davolio/ 

  Todorov, T. (2014). Elemental sculpture: Theory and practice. Cambridge Scholars Publ.
  
  Image References
  
  ​​​​Image 1 and 2: https://www.marybeierle.com/

  Image 3: https://chapman.emuseum.com/objects/1493/excavation-series-60?ctx=0d3839e39ad88dcdf2fb9a0b9abd2c1ca62686f7&idx=42

  Image 4: https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/what-is-the-fibonacci-sequence

  Image 5: https://emuseum.mfah.org/objects/17860/red-hill-and-white-shell

  Image 6: https://www.jenisandberg.com/blog/2014/01/georgia-okeeffe-and-hana-maui-koki-beach.html

  Image 7: https://www.guggenheim.org/teaching-materials/hilma-af-klint-paintings-for-the-future/abstraction

  Image 8: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/feb/21/hilma-af-klint-occult-spiritualism-abstract-serpentine-gallery

  Image 9: https://www.jlohmanngallery.com/artists/cermaics/sandra-davolio/vessel-with-blue-edges-iv/

  Image 10:  https://www.homofaber.com/en/discover/artisans-sandra-davolio