Martha's Vineyard Artist Nina Gomez Gordon

Exhibitions: Kresge Gallery in Brunswick ME; Walker Art Museum in Brunswick ME; Northern Indiana Arts Association Tri-County Arts Exhibition in East Chicago IN (awards include Best of Show, Best Drawing, Outstanding, Award of Distinction, and Honorable Mention); Congressional Arts Caucus 5th District Art Exhibition in Portage IN (awards include 1st and 2nd place); Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society art show in West Tisbury MA (awards include 1st places, 2nd , and 3rd in oil); Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless in Boston MA; Friends of Family Planning annual art show in West Tisbury MA; Chicamoo Gallery in WT MA; Waterfront Gallery in Vineyard Haven MA; Dragonfly Gallery in Oak Bluffs MA; Firehouse Gallery in Oak Bluffs MA; Featherstone Meetinghouse for the Arts in Oak Bluffs MA; (x) Gallery on Nantucket MA; Woodward Gallery in Soho NY Paper Invitational; Old Sculpin Gallery; Cobalt Gallery (of course).

Ironically, I became fascinated by the beauty of death and disease during the period in my life when I was the most fertile and full of life. After having my first child in college at twenty, I rapidly moved from youth to responsibility. While my children were babies or toddlers, I had little time to work in a chemical-laden studio and channeled my creative energy into gardening. I marveled at germination, was excited by the harvest, but felt great sympathy for the used and dying plants. I am greatly inspired by the sacrifice and experience of last year’s crop. Returning to the studio, my paintings celebrated that time after the harvest, when the plants are used up, riddled by disease and pests, useless and beautiful, pure art, what was left when all else was taken away.

An artist is an editor; I paint to show what and how I see. Present in my paintings is empathy and wonder for the overlooked, unwanted, and simple beauty. My subjects are unique rather than perfect. I celebrate their color, rhythm, geometry, and force.

My plein air paintings convey a sense of a place rather than a specific moment. I return to familiar haunts repeatedly until I am done. They are literally the common ground where artist and viewer meet. Those who have been to the locations recognize the feeling of being there rather than the literal; those who have not been there often feel as if they had. Beginning and ending the painting on location allows me to get to know the place intimately, at different times and weather conditions. I am then able to choose which of my favorite moments to include.

I am greatly impressed with the impact of humans on nature and nature’s ability to renew itself. People often search for timelessness, immortality, a way of leaving a mark. Nature is relentless, achieving immortality through change and continuous rebirth. Many of the subjects of my paintings explore the beauty of the dynamic between human beings’ persistent attempts to shape, control, or fit into their environment and the overpowering force of the natural world to resist.

Painting oil on canvas, paper, or panels in a representational style bridges historical art tradition with contemporary modern vision. I have been painting the figure and the beauty of Martha’s Vineyard for over ten years, and have yet to tire of the shifting light, color, and texture.

Art speaks of universal truths. I find that even in depicting a specific person, place, or thing, there is a common human experience that can be expressed in conversation with the viewer. Come see what I see.