Artist Detail

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Nathaniel Donnett

Visual Artist: Paintings

About the artist: I use found and bought objects along with mixed media to express and communicate my understanding and the plight of the human experience, percepts and observations. My work exists in moments that bridge the conscious and subconscious as an attempt to co-exist within the seen and unseen world. A world I call the in-world which allows an exploration of self, social paradoxes and an embarking on a spiritual journey and arrival to a visual destination. The destination is never complete because its truth may continue to change. Inspiration comes from African and Black culture, music, life-nouns, observations and people who create a vernacular by improvising while creating. These works are like visual poetry or songs. I’m not exclusively limited to the experience of my culture but other cultures as well. Approaching the work intuitively and intellectually the work becomes thought provoking yet the spontaneity isn’t lost. Commentary isn’t made on any single issue but developed as multi layered views that create visible and invisible dialogue. I have studied art and I’m also self-taught which allows my work to speak in a plural form as opposed to singularity.

The most current work that I have created has been on broken and torn material surfaces. This is a metaphor to changing and growing. The most current series is my “Lost Children In the Angelic Playgrounds” series. This series deals with adult and children relationships and their interactions with each other. It also delves into what psychologists call our inner child; the innocent, the creative and the protector. In the series there’s commentary on how adults place their indirect insecurities or lost dreams upon children. The question then lies is if that cycle will continue and how will the children as adults respond. Also, what rolls do our childhood play once they become adults and interact with other adults?

Nathaniel Donnett