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T
he surrealist painter and poet
Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012)
wrote, “Art has always been the
raft onto which we climb to save
our sanity. I don’t see a diff erent purpose
for it now.”
Experiencing nature through the eyes
of artists can open our eyes not only to its
complex beauty but to its salubrious quali-
ties. We are one with nature and benefi t
from shedding whatever separates us from
it. Nature in art can also be a metaphor for
ideas that defy the constructed intricacies
of language.
Janice Anthony lives on a farm in rural
Maine intimately aware of her environment.
Her painting Balancing Rock illustrates the
balance that exists among massive granite
rocks and tree roots seeking nourishment.
She says, “The natural world, as it transi-
tions from woods into wilderness beyond
me, has been my companion for most of my
life. I feel it as a continuous presence, both
familiar and friendly, and independent
and unknown. Such multiplicity of life is
happening in this world that surrounds me.
We share this space; as I move in and out
of it, it fl ows through me, replacing thought
with awareness. In my studio this exchange
continues, as I paint I still communicate
with the land and waters as they live their
lives, indiff erent to me, but essential to my
painting.”
Judith Belzer responded to a change
in environment with a fl urry of new work
when she and her family moved from New
England to the Bay Area. She responded
to a change in scale and became more
aware of the conflict between the built
and the natural environment. Lately, she
has been exploring nature as metaphor.
She says, “Using rocks as metaphors for
all that we thought solid and lasting, I am
painting my way through questions about
the nature of permanence and equilibrium
in human experience. Boulders and rocks
placed in illogical and precarious piles
allude to a growing sense of instability
all around me. As the climate fl uctuates
wildly, democratic and cultural institutions
show signs of structural strain and weak-
ness, and the very idea of enduring truths
wobble, I wonder aloud in my work where
we are headed. Will we adhere to the ideals
we once thought immutable or will we fi nd
- Jonathan LeVine Projects, Artist (detail), oil on
linen, 47¼ x 66⁄", by Susannah Martin.
BREA
KING
BOUND
ARIES
BY JOHN O’HERNCOLLECTOR'S FOCUS
WOMEN ARTISTS