Natural Ephemera in the Art of Heather Neilson
Heather Neilson, an abstract artist working in northwest Connecticut, is fascinated by the ephemera of the natural world, and strives to capture this fascination in her work.
Header Image: "Moon Water" by Heather Neilson. 24"X6", acrylic and mixed media. Image from the artist's website.
Pictured above: "Lost and Found" by Heather Neilson. 18"X24", acrylic and monotype collage. Image from the artist's website.
“In addition to New England landscapes, I’m mesmerized by things like ferns, solomon’s seal and moss,” Neilson says. “On my walks, I’ll pick leaves and take close up pictures. Looking at the forms of plants is so inspiring to me.”
She pauses for a moment to think, then continues. “That close up, you can see and feel connections.I’m interested not only in form, but how form makes you feel,” says Neilson. “I’m interested in the inner and outer connections. All art, in its way, is psychological.”
Neilson’s art celebrates and preserves those fleeting moments of connection among organisms. “A monoprint means you’ll never be able to duplicate the exact print,” she explains. Neilson frequently uses this technique to create impressions of natural forms in her paintings.
Her use of gel lens monoprints in pieces like “Lost and Found,” a lush abstract undergrowth scene, honors forms both fleeting and seasonal. Green paint drips down the canvas, blotting and gathering on the fronds of ferns and the slender petioles of sumac leaves, preserving both the fine details and the overall sense of the scene: the humid smell of the earth, the shadowed presence of green growing things, and the intertwined lives of insects and animals.
Neilson’s abstractions, while not strictly representational, capture natural scenes not necessarily how they exist in reality, but rather how they impress themselves upon the imagination. The layers and layers of green and the blending of textures and odd, stray lines in “Lost and Found” call to mind the feeling of walking through the woods on a humid summer day in Connecticut, when every green thing is out and alive in full force.
Pictured: "Garden Notes" by Heather Neilson. 31"X40", mixed media. Image from the artist's website.
“Garden Notes,” by contrast, recalls the mismatch of flower beds on a sunny day, of flowers blooming and fading against the backdrop of dark soil and mulch. These pieces are concerned not only with representing the scenes described in their titles, but also with representing the connection between the witness, or the artist, and the objects being observed.
Connection has been central to both Neilson’s artistic and community work. Art is a second career for Neilson, who began making art after taking courses at the Arts Student League of New York around twenty-five years ago. She has had a studio at Whiting Mills for eight years now, but only started working full-time as an artist and arts educator in 2021
.Since then, Neilson has dedicated herself to her art practice and teaching others how to express themselves through art. In addition to teaching in her studio and art organizations throughout the state and online, each January she auctions a painting a day for a particular cause. This year she raised $2,200 for Prime Time House, a mental health support nonprofit located in Torrington whose mission is to assist adults with mental illness in leading independent and productive lives.
The botanical is ephemeral. One of the great pleasures and occasional miseries of life in Connecticut is the change in seasons: the green budding trees in spring, bright summer wildflowers, and the famous foliage of the fall. These experiences are cyclical and repetitive, but in many ways one of a kind. Every time that we take a step out and smell the first warm day of spring or feel the heat of the summer sun is unique. Similarly, many of our connections to other people can seem routine, but are also deeply meaningful and beautiful. Neilson’s work both as an artist and as an art educator nourishes these connections to the natural world and to the people who live in it, and ask us to honor those once-in-a-lifetime moments that are so easily overlooked.
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See Heather’s latest abstract landscapes in her solo show at the Norfolk, CT Library, opening September 4th. The Opening Reception is Sunday, September 4th, 4-6pm.
Learn more about Heather by visiting her website.
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