TISSER LES NUAGES

For this second participation to Art au Centre, the artwork displayed by Nina Tomas represents a kind of milestone of the evolution of her practice, the mark of a return to her roots. After reaching a point of breakdown last November, the artist aspires to come back to a more formal kind of art, less narrative and figurative, with rawer and almost « rude » compositions.

The composition here plays a key role : whether within each of the paintings or from a painting to another (increasing format) or even beyond the artwork itself. An extra filter is actually added when the artwork invades the totality of the display window, like a panel in a preexisting frame. Is it a frame in a frame ? A window in a window ? By fragmenting and juxtaposing plans and spaces, by playing with the proportions and by adding colors (flat tints or shaded off), shapes, motifs and different textures in her paintings, she creates effects of contrast, breakdown, emptiness and fullness, but also a harmonious and coherent whole. These elements enable her to give rhythm to her paintings and to forge links between them.

Nina Tomas’ paintings don’t rest on any sketch and get built progressively, by superimposition of pictorial layers. They transform over time in an uncontrolled and uncontrollable way, giving free rein to impulsiveness and unconsciousness. It is a slow process and what we have today in front of us is not a « finished product » because other levels of reading will be generated with the addition of extra panels in the future. Nina Tomas considers her polyptych as a journey that we can follow to travel and lose ourselves in it.