Quarantine. Distance. Isolation. The conditions under which we’ve been living since California’s shelter-at-home order went into effect also provide the nomenclature for The Pandemic Paintings, a new series of surrealist works by Palm Springs–based artist Anne Faith Nicholls.
“This collection of three small oil paintings considers the place of art, and the artist, in a post-social world,” she says. “These works employ a limited, classical color palette and sparse environments, as devices to solemnly question how, why, and where art will be appreciated when no one is there to view it. [They] are meant to evoke a sense of calm reflection upon the past, present and future of artistic endeavors.”
The Pandemic Paintings earned Nicholls a $500 grant from the California Desert Arts Council (CDAC) to “Keep Art Alive.” CDAC and affiliate La Quinta Arts Foundation established a $50,000 Keep Art Alive fund to award grants to Coachella Valley artists and arts organizations who create thoughtful, inspiring, and relevant works responding to the crisis.
Nicholls, born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, graduated from The Academy of Art University, San Francisco, where she spent the formative years of her art career. She founded the now-defunct CURIO Studio & Collection in Venice Beach.
Today, her layered and mysterious work often explores the subconscious, asserting symbolic narratives on the human condition.
Follow Anne Faith Nicholls on Instagram at @annefaithnicholls
Top: Isolation
Right: Distance
Below: Quarantine
