Pamela Casper

Biography

I am a native New Yorker. My formal training began at the LaGuardia High School for Music and Art. I went on to get my BA at Swarthmore College where I studied painting with Harriet Shorr and majored in psychology.

After college, I lived in Paris for two years where I became fluent in French and pursued an independent study of Art and Culture. Thereafter I spent many years living and working in lower manhattan working in the gourmet food world and painting at night. My work during that time reflected the urban landscape I observed, old and new building construction, and breakdancers in the clubs of NY.

Gradually nature crept back into my work during summer trips out of the city. I developed a steady practice of direct observation painting outside in "Plein Air" while maintaining jobs as a textile designer. During the winters in my studio, I developed an imagined approach to landscape informed by my memories of observed nature. Both practices reflect my deep admiration for nature and my concern for the future of our environment. I married at the end of 1997 and gave birth to twins in 2002. My role as a mother increased my concern for the future of our planet for the next generations. Our family required more space and we made the move from lower Manhattan to Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn where I now live and maintain my studio.

Artist statement

I paint the natural world out of admiration and protectiveness. My studio practice combines direct observation in "Plein air" with imagined landscapes. In my studio, I conjure the parts of nature not easily viewable, yet their condition affects our world: the processes between roots and soil and especially now the melting of Arctic Ice. Although my work is grounded in an observation I use my intuitive sense of the subject to achieve an interpretation of nature. As I paint I am searching for the intended and unexpected patterns, colors, and forms that derive from nature.

In the “Tornado” series, Watercolor on paper, the Tornado form drives the composition acting as a metaphor for the unbridled forces of nature. Each Tornado landscape addresses different life cycle themes, nurture, metamorphosis, habitat, involving insects, fish, bees, bird’s nests, plants, flowers, or tree roots.

The “Tree Root” series investigates nature through more abstracted imagery and techniques. I imagine life underground away from the human eye, where nocturnal organisms intermingle with microscopic organisms, tree roots, and rocks.

Working in Oil and Watercolor I mix representational painting techniques with an experimental approach that constantly shifts. Salt and resist guide the watercolor pigment to spontaneously create forms and accidents with the pigment from which I create imagery. This is especially apparent in the “Root” series and my new “Ice Melting” series, a response to issues of global warming.

My work presents a unique view of the natural world filtered through my imagination and passion, intended to move the viewer to engage in safeguarding our environment.