Present (565)
Nicole Chesney (American, b. 1971)
United States, Cranston, Rhode Island
2005
Sandblasted mirror; oil paint
H: 172.8 cm, W: 203.2 cm
(2005.4.162)
In her investigations of light, space, perception, and imagination, Nicole Chesney has been inspired by the writings of the French philosopher Gaston Bachelard (1884–1962).
In the “Sky/Water” series, to which Present belongs, Chesney explores Bachelard’s interest in the cloudless, empty sky, a sky that he calls the “unsilvered mirror.” Present, a waterscape or skyscape, is an abstract, dreamlike depiction of fog or clouds, a poetic visual interpretation of the union of the elements of air and water. Air is transparent, like glass, and water is reflective, as is glass. Using glass as her canvas, Chesney achieves a luminosity, depth, transparency, and reflection that no other material affords.
The 20th Rakow Commission.