TIC Reading June 2, 2007
"Embedded With Mangoes in the Garden of Duelling Delights"


"What Happens Here Stays Here:" painting
Nicole Gordon


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Artist statement

My paintings and installations combine figures and/or landscapes from Medieval to Renaissance periods often sampled from historical genre paintings, injected with contemporary imagery. I intentionally reuse images that, regardless of their original context, speak across time and space. The work reflects on cultural displacement and seeks to cut through the viewers’ complacency by drawing the viewers in with a studied prettiness of luscious and decorative surfaces. The images are both beautiful and uncomfortable at the same time.

Closer inspection reveals them to be rooted in history, challenging the viewer to dissect the layers of the painting and question historical and contemporary ideals. Some of my paintings are combined with installation elements in which parts of the painting are recreated in three-dimensional form in front of the work. Bringing the work into the surrounding space serves to seduce the viewer into the work, giving the imagery an unsetting mix of realism and fantasy.

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nicolegordon.com