Nature Study with Louise Bourgeois Painting

Nevena Bentz is a Bulgarian artist who lives in Austin, Texas. A law student in France, a lawyer in Texas, a professor in Bulgaria, her life is one of colorful experiences and people. Her constant pursuit of meaning culminated when she reconnected with her creative side, which finds expression in art, jewelry design, and the writing of poetry in French. Nevena Bentz ‘s artistic journey plays with female identity. Her work challenges society’s beauty standards for women and rebels against a market that reinforces their insecurities and sense of inadequacy through a bombardment with useless products and procedures. The message that they need to “fit a certain mold” results in women drifting further away from themselves, losing their voice and authenticity. Through the use of female fragments and distortion, Nevena’s work communicates women’s inner contradictions, struggles, and emotions and the fragile illusion of perfection they strive to achieve. To counter the sense of wreckage, Nevena uses bold and vibrant colors in playful ways as she assembles the fragments into a whole. Ordering the chaos of our fragmented selves is the starting point in our quest for purpose, a yearning for wholeness, a need to make sense of our isolated and seemingly unrelated experiences. With her mixed media compositions, she reconfigures reality in unexpected ways and blurs the line of what is normal. “The minute something begins to look predictable, I take a turn and feel an urgent need to disrupt its course. I like to surprise myself constantly, and that invariably leads to distorting the obvious and rebelling against conventions.” Driven by curiosity and the thrill of the unknown, with each work of art, she seeks to reach a new horizon, arrive at another view, each time taking a different path, and pushing closer to the edge of her abilities and comfort, guided only by authenticity, honesty, and freedom in self-expression. “Art is my greatest passion. I paint from a place of feeling. After hours of laboring, searching, and the sense of an impossible journey, something is finally born. That something goes beyond the canvas. It is unknowable, untouchable, and indescribable, but brings with it a sense of deep relaxation and joy. Painting has saved my soul, allowed me to make sense of my life journey, and lifted me from every emotional fog. It is always my hope that my images create a novel framework for exploring our common human experiences.