Quandaries

Artists

• Nell Warren

Statement

In this group of paintings I wanted to illuminate for myself themes that I and indeed most people ponder. Hard truths balanced with wonder; decisions disturbed by circumstance, progress undermined by waste, idealism supplanted by fact, and chaos confined by outline. Of late, natural forces have been impinging on our minds in epic proportions. It puts things in perspective and makes one think about the past and future. The worries and cares of the political globe, all the anxiety I feel about the environmental state of affairs, drive me to fantasy. In the endless panoply of invention, lies the hope of change. Daydreaming about floating islands that rise out of the polluted oceans to convene together in council, a massive whorl of sea creatures spiraling out of the water to become clouds - these are the enduring images that inspire and soothe me. Wildfire, clear-cutting, paper mills, sacrifice, technology, provenance, belief, escapism, magic, patriotism and paradox are some of the factors at work in this body of paintings. Heraldry, illuminations, relief, antique maps, family trees and fairy tales, all the wonderful ways the imagination finds to categorize our experience, are the muses of my work.