Laura Bernardeschi Nelson, 2026
Year 2026
Framed, varnished, and signed front and back
Oil pastels on paper
45 × 35 × 2 cm
“Violet Ground” is part of my ongoing exploration of emotional landscapes shaped more by memory and atmosphere than by direct observation. Executed in oil pastels on paper, the work combines layered gestures, softened structures, and luminous color fields to create an environment suspended between stillness and transformation.
The composition unfolds through long horizontal bands and diagonal movements that pull the viewer into a space of shifting depth and uncertain perspective. Violet and turquoise tones dominate the foreground, while darker vertical forms gather along the horizon like trees, barriers, or silent figures emerging from shadow. The landscape remains intentionally ambiguous, existing somewhere between natural terrain and psychological space.
At the center of the painting appears a solitary dark form that may suggest a cut tree, a vessel, or a symbolic marker embedded within the field. I was interested in creating a quiet focal point — something that anchors the composition emotionally without fully revealing its meaning. This small form interrupts the openness of the landscape and introduces a subtle sense of presence, memory, or ritual.
Color plays a central role in the work. Layers of violet, blue, green, and muted earth tones overlap and dissolve into one another, creating moments of tension between luminosity and darkness. The oil pastel medium allows for both density and fragility, preserving traces of movement, texture, and previous gestures beneath the final surface.
Rather than depicting a specific place, “Violet Ground” reflects an internal landscape — a space connected to silence, distance, recollection, and emotional transition. The painting invites slow observation, allowing forms and atmosphere to emerge gradually through texture and color.
The work is framed, varnished, and signed on both front and back, emphasizing both its material presence and its intimate scale.
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