The Peninsula Gallery in Lewes will host a solo show from Saturday, March 28, to Sunday, April 26, featuring Nina Mickelsen, a versatile 2D artist grounded in pop art.
A Lewes resident, Mickelsen is a repeat exhibitor at the gallery. Her diverse body of work and her personal story make this a particularly exciting exhibition, offering a fantastic look at contemporary art and design. As a native of Finland, she has been inspired by Nordic and Scandinavian design elements like bright colors and crisp lines.
She works heavily in silk screen printing and epoxy resin, typically combined with many layers of materials like plaster, acrylic paint and rocks. Mickelsen’s most powerful conceptual tool is contrast. Her use of juxtaposition is the unifying component. Some groupings pack a punch of electrifying color in bold geometric shapes and chaotic compositions, while others offer soothing sensations in melting hues of blue and white.
The pieces made just for this display present the evolution from abstract and nonrepresentational art to realism, or perhaps the other way around. Mickelsen said, “The coast, both Scandinavian and mid-Atlantic, is my happy place.”
In one piece, this is apparent through a meticulous depiction of a larger-than-life lobster. In another, she only alludes to the ocean through fluid shapes and undulating surfaces that the mind may interpret as water and sand.
Mickelsen has always been an art lover but didn’t find her own talent until late in life. Unlike many whose art careers flourish in retirement, she never daydreamed of an artists’ life while working in business. Having earned master’s and doctoral degrees in business administration, Mickelsen found happiness and success in her international business career.
Finally, at age 50 and ready to take on a new chapter in life, she attended the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C. She remembers feeling intimidated, working with students 20 or 30 years her junior, but It didn’t take long for her to discover the excitement of this new environment and the value of learning from her classmates.
For the past 10 years, Mickelsen has engrossed herself in her art-making, developing an exceptionally contemporary and progressive style.
The gallery is located in the Shops at the Beacon, 520 East Savannah Road, Lewes. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m, Tuesday to Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday.
To preview the works featured in the show, go to www.peninsula-gallery.com. Works are available for purchase as soon as they are posted to the website. For more information, call 302-645-0551.
