Nicole Sleeth
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I create oil paintings of the female figure and the coastal Canadian landscape, both together and separate. My approach is guided by imagination and memory while rooted in a representational style. Colour is an important element, with recent paintings featuring bold palettes that are driven by emotional expression rather than an attempt at realism.
I am interested in the differences between inner emotional worlds and outer public presence: how we experience ourselves versus how our selves are perceived by others. Which is true? Either? Both? Or neither at all? Truth and its unveiling are central to the work. For example, when painting the female figure, I consider the charged and gendered history of the muse in Western art history. It is paradoxical that in the classical female nude, a woman’s identity is simultaneously idealized and erased. And yet who is the viewer, and who is the viewed? As a woman and a painter, I am both. -
I find freedom and peace through solitude in the natural landscape of my home in Newfoundland. In the barrens, in the forest, on rocky shores, I become invisible, unseen; the ocean does not care about me. Escaping all notice grants me the mental space to examine my relationship with place, to delve into worlds unseen, and reconcile my experiences and emotions. My landscape paintings are not a record of the location they represent, but rather an exploration of my emotional state while there.
I work with traditional materials - oil paint on linen or wood - punctuated by hyper-saturated fluorescent colours. Working alone in the studio is essential to my practice; it is a haven of privacy and focus. Through these works, I hope to create moments of connection for viewers, where they might recognize a part of themselves, not able to be put into words.