Arrowhead Print

Nadege Monchera Baer's figurative art ranges from charged portraits to more conceptually tinged psychological studies hinting at internal or conflictive socio-sexual issues such as innocence and deference. Though not referenced in the titles, many of the artworks are images and self-portraits sourced from actual family photos. With her roots established in abstract painting, she continues a sort of bifurcated exploration of complimentary and overlapping concerns as well in non-objective imagery, via numerous artworks that are chiefly defined by an emphasis on connections, repetition, atmospherics, emotion and most importantly, color itself as expressive mirrors of an internal undefined landscape. Whether it be large canvases or "hatchings" on mylar, her methodology is to work on multiple canvases simultaneously working various styles of abstraction in series. Chronologically the completion of these artworks may jump and skip over one another, yet in overview, they are fairly easy to group together via size and media. The more conceptual work also develops in series but often that is only recognized in hindsight as various ideas rise and submerge. For example, though the exteriors vary greatly, the path from the Woman's Large Head dreaming to the Touchable Indian boy may not seem immediately traceable, yet one feels the connection is irrefutably there. At the same time, in her hair one can also see the abstract workings. Same with the skulls. On the one hand, there is her particular use of color and in others, it is this slow accretion of meaning and intensity through the layering of countless tiny gestures, built one upon another. I am not sure that anything at this point is more poignant and layered in both meaning and mystery than the self portraits of the little girl with curtsey or the bear. In this case I am pretty certain that it is best to not say more and let the pictures speak for themselves. excerpt from exhibition commentary