In Heather Nevay’s paintings pale, slender figures with animal parts and creepy, upsent or dispondent faces share space with plants, furniture and symbolic elements like cages and tripods.
Shown above is a recent work, “Madame Lyon”.
“I love your show and everyone should listen.”
–Sandra Tsing Loh
“That’s kind of genius.” –Katie Herzog
“Great job!” –Russ Roberts
“This was a good conversation.” –Michael Shermer
“I don’t know what to think about that.” –Andrew Gelman
Others: James Corbett , Matt Welch , Pete Quiñones , Zvi Mowshowitz , Vin Armani
“That’s kind of genius.” –Katie Herzog
“Great job!” –Russ Roberts
“This was a good conversation.” –Michael Shermer
“I don’t know what to think about that.” –Andrew Gelman
Others: James Corbett , Matt Welch , Pete Quiñones , Zvi Mowshowitz , Vin Armani
I have a lot of conflicting views on this piece… My gut reaction is positive, I like the Elizabethan feel, the portrayal of the aristocratic matriarch colored by ghost-like function in society. This woman is no longer existent, she is a pale reminder of what once was, this is further illustrated in her link to the animal kingdom, the female still carries out her role as mother and caretaker in the animal world but briefly and often carelessly. So, is today’s woman behaving more or less like her animal counterparts. Without question, gone are the days of the frivolously covered and puritan women of the Renaissance but is the artist finding fault with that? Is this a reminder to men what once was? That’s where I begin to find conflict in this piece, a little too much going on, a bit too symbolic, a bit too much, yes, a bit too much.
Get over it, man! Either you like it or you don’t! Blake and the other Romantics, insisted that “to dissect was to destroy.” The more you pick the piece apart the more you are going to find fault… you are destroying the art and your own visceral appreciation of it.
It’s simple…
I like it. I like the image and composistion. It leaves me feeling unsettled and whimsical…