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"A site must interest me, be it the cyclical way a cloud
and tree intertwine, the solidity of shape and space, or the
variety of movement and flickering light. My marks in turn try
to evoke the original or revealed feeling of the place that
has engaged me."
Nancy Friese's powerfully
lyrical landscapes are essays in both the substantial and the
sublime. Nationally
known for her exuberant oils, watercolors and prints, Friese
brings her unique interpretation of place to a panoply of
landscapes - from
the sweeping expanses of the American West, to the ancient
gardens and shrines of Japan, to the rocky coasts of the South
of France and her native Rhode Island. For over twenty years she
has devoted herself to painting outdoors - en plein air -
making rapid studies of the fleeting effects of light and
shadow on the natural environment, then translating what she
sees into symphonic arrangements of color and space. Friese's desire to explore
the mystery and changing moods of a particular landscape often
leads her to revisit locations during different seasons or
weather conditions.
Friese's intense
emotional responses to her chosen landscapes resound through
highly saturated colors and vigorous brushstrokes, prompting
comparisons to Van Gogh, Charles Burchfield and the Fauves. A captivating and constant
sense of movement is a signature quality of Friese's work, as
is an emphasis on the complex interaction between sky and land
or sea. Gesturing trees, burgeoning blossoms and rich
vegetation interweave, countering strongly contoured,
brilliantly colored cloud formations in mercurial skies.
Friese holds a M.F.A. from Yale University, and has received numerous
honors and awards including three National Endowment for the Arts
grants, one of which allowed her to spend six months working and living
in Tokyo, Japan. Other residencies include a semester
at Giverny, France, the celebrated home and gardens of Claude Monet,
and Pont-Aven in Brittany, a favorite spot of Paul Gauguin's.
She has exhibited widely throughout the U.S. and Europe and
her work is in many significant collections including the Housatonic
Museum of Art, the Grunwald Center at UCLA, and the Johnson &
Johnson Corporation. She is currently a professor at Rhode Island School of Design.
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