Naomi Nickerson
Artist Statement

I paint because painting is the most effective form of communication I know. My paintings are abstracted landscapes, although the visual information is often a vehicle to explore surface, texture and picture plane. The paintings are finished with traditional oil paint but are begun with household materials. I use spackle, plywood, glue, spray paint and masonite because they are economical and utilitarian.

These paintings explore the nature and history of surface. By digging into and building up the physical surface I direct the viewers eye to the sculptural nature of the painting. Each gouge and peak in texture works in concert with the flat application of paint to create a visual experience that is two, three and four dimensional as the painting changes when the viewer moves. By using the abstracted landscape and the expressive gesture as a diving board, I am able to create multi-layered work that literally and figuratively utilizes surface and dimensionality to address contemporarized formal questions of modernist painting.

When I work there is a space I slip into that is a mindful unconsciousness. If the movement or gesture feels right it generates its own energy, I never get tired of creating a line with the grinding tool, or pushing spackle around with the trowel, palette knife or fingers. I constantly engage in a nonverbal conversation when making my paintings. Questions I ask myself include: “How do I want to convey this particular moment?” “Why is it important?” "What is the connection between the physicality of this work and the visual challenge it represents?" By working with materials that physically build up and tools that physically dig into and break down the surface of the painting I am engaging in the formal modernist question of the definition of picture plane and surface.