Piece description from the artist
This painting revisits my early adolescent memories of going to water parks with my
friends. I’m interested in the way our perception of beauty is manipulated in the media and how we remember. The three graces in the painting are not quite real; fantasies or dreams, floating just above the earth. The embroidered silk was bought in a small shop in Calcutta, India and brings an element of underlying pattern and texture. I am interested in the way that the flatness of the printed pattern interacts with the form of the painted figure.
Nathan Florence has always loved to draw. When he was a kid, he would save his sketchbooks for doing drawings that were really good. As a result they didnʼt get used, but Nathan drew on everything else; his shoes, his pants, the door of his bedroom, and the walls. For Nathan, this wasnʼt that important as his career aspirations at the time went from being a rock star to being a reconstructive surgeon and an architect.
Florence grew up in Denver and then Salt Lake City, leaving for the east to go to college and thinking he would never be back; moving on and up. He studied engineering thinking he would be an industrial designer and loved the projects, but when Nathan found out he didnʼt need the degree to be a designer he switched his focus to a premedical track, taking art classes on the side. The design and surgery directions appeared to be roundabout ways to do art in a more practical way.
With some sage advice and a great professor and mentor, Nathan dropped the premedical studies -well into his study of organic chemistry and physics -and switched to studying art full-time. In spite of finding his inspiration in music, films and pictures for Nathan, being an artist somehow did not seem like it was a valid career choice. Nathan currently lives and works in Salt Lake City, Utah.
An Art Advisor will get in touch with you today to schedule a free consultation to discuss your artwork needs.
Get Started