Artist Statement

"Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by the interplay of lights and darks, colors and patterns. Light remains the most vital element in all of my paintings. Whether I am painting interiors, portraits or landscapes, what I am trying to capture is light. In my work, I use familiar objects – things with which everyone can identify. For example, in the interiors there are chairs, and saucers, windows, lamps, rugs, checkered floors. To my eye, these things are like the canvas onto which I paint the light. If I were to choose unfamiliar objects, I think they would carry too much connotation and steal form the drama of light and shadow. While the objects I paint are familiar, I take liberties with the perspective, and even more so with the contrasts of light and dark that intrigue me so much. I believe that the work of every artist is an evolution in progress; I have painted abstract interiors for a long time. My previous interiors were playful, whimsical, and often pulled from my imagination.

My current abstract interiors are more subtle and more mature. I use more variations and greater subtleties of color and patterns, and I am more precise even when I paint form an unusual perspective. Part of this change came from studying landscape paintings. It taught me to look at a tree and see 1,000 different greens, each one an element of that one tree. This effort made me look with a keener, more serious eye. I began to see a vastly broader variety of colors, patterns and light in by subjects. As I perceive more subtleties of my subjects, I find myself painting larger works. I believe this is partly because, now that I look more deeply, I see more that I wish to capture. The seduction, for me, is always related to capturing and manipulating light. Doing that on a grand scale is very enticing."

- Georgia Nagle