Nicola Bealing

Nicola Bealing's solo show Sea & Dead-man’s Fingers opens 4 May at Newlyn Art Gallery.

Sea is a series of figurative paintings developed over 10 years from 2013. The series started with the simple premise of a single figure largely submerged in the sea – and the contrast that could be explored between what is visible, as opposed to what might be going on under the surface, out of sight.

Dead-man’s Fingers is a body of work made during lockdown when total immersion in an alien world seemed a logical response to darkness beyond the studio door. The works developed into an intense investigation of heightened, imagined sub-marine landscapes.

The series of paintings and suspended sculptural works take their macabre title from the common name of a coral – Alcyonium digitatum. Apart from the title and a few scattered teeth and finger-bones, there is little human presence in the paintings. Humanity has perhaps been washed away in a final cataclysmic flood. The colour in these marine-scapes is heightened, and controlled elements contrast with the random outcomes of Rorschach blots and scrapes.

Dead-man’s Fingers was commissioned by and first shown at Matt’s Gallery.

Show: 4 May - 2 Nov
Open: Tue - Sat, 10am - 4pm

Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange
New Rd, Newlyn
Penzance
TR18 5PZ