Kiera Nadeau (b. 2003) was raised in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, and is currently working in Savannah, Georgia as a Fine Artist. She studies painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design with a minor in Illustration for Surface Design. She brings a playful illustrative quality to her childhood memories, exploring how they interplay with the nature that surrounds her. These landscapes investigate vibrant color relationships. Using contrasting styles, and playful patterns that symbolize various periods of her youth. Through these bold colors and the combination of nature and idealized interior spaces, Kiera recreates and reimagines fond moments from her childhood and young adult life through a now mature lens. Her work is currently shown through SCAD Art Sales and has been awarded in shows both in Texas and Georgia.
Statement:
I obsess over the familiar and nostalgic, creating an idealized representation of my memory and inner connection to nature. Influenced by a curiosity on how the outdoors influenced fond memories of my past, my work intertwines my childhood with influences of who I am today. Through composing symbolic objects over abstracted familiar landscapes, I strive to reconstruct my past into perfect memories.
Each piece demands attention in its vibrant use of color, playing with their emotional connection to different periods of my life. The rich jewel tones of green and red accompanied by neatly staged interiors reflect more mature recollections. In contrast, the bright purple and pink paired with more organically structured childhood objects reflect a younger, more naïve moment in time. This exploration into the past is further represented through pattern, becoming more prominent and nostalgic in design as the memories grow farther into the past.
The duality of my rendering processes draws a bridge between my preferred styles of working, balancing the meditative process of layering flat opaque shapes with the delicate precision of realism. In reconstructing familiar patterns and shapes, I allow myself to play, exploring the nostalgia of shape with less rigidness and rules than the rest of my process requires. This contrast reflects my inner thinking, satisfying both the logical and creative.