Entangled – Nina Jerome

September 13 – December 21, 2019

Entangled features a new series of paintings and drawings by Maine-based artist Nina Jerome. Invasive wild grape vines, that Jerome encountered while at a recent artist residency, inspire these exuberant and expressive compositions. Ranging from the monochromatic to vividly colored paintings, the artist has captured the gesture and wild energy of these tangled masses. Jerome states, “the movement and joyful choreography of their entanglement express the variety and excitement of life’s experiences, yet the tangled knots also create obstacles within our interconnected systems.”

A focal point of the exhibition is the large-scale Thicket that is composed of nine individual panels hung in a dramatic grid. Measuring 7 ½ x 7 ½ feet, the work contains a bustling array of overlapping curvilinear lines in bold black with contrasting blue gestural marks. For Jerome the circular forms, “capture the chaos of nature and seems to balance on the edge of beauty and destruction.” In addition to the drawings and monochromatic paintings, the artist also reveals her skill as a colorist. In two striking compositions, Entangled Redand Dance, the artist employs an expressionistic palette—the looping vines are depicted in intense reds while the background is rendered in vivid blues.  The works in Entangledprovide an open window to Jerome’s creative process. In the exhibition, one sees the evolution of her art from small, spontaneous and spirited drawings to the larger and more structured works on canvas for which the artist is most known.

 

The Virginia Center for Creative Arts supported the development of Jerome’s new body of work.

 

       

(L-R)

NINA JEROME (American, born 1950). Entangled Red, 2018. Oil on linen. Courtesy of the artist.

NINA JEROME (American, born 1950). Veiled Thicket, 2018. Mixed media on panel. Courtesy of the artist.