March 2014

NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC, Features Works by Keith Norval and Anna Podris

The NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC, will present Distant Relatives, featuring works by Keith Norval and Anna Podris, on view in the Nature Art Gallery, from Mar. 7 - 30, 2014. A reception will be held on Mar. 7, from 6-8pm.

As one of the most prominent married art couples in the area, Keith Norval and Anna Podris will bring their individual visions of unique explorations of paint in their newest exhibition.

For this exhibit, the two artists decided to explore different subject matter. Norval focused on dinosaurs painted with oil on canvas – large and small – with thick paint, bright color and plenty of attitude.

“I wanted to make the work really cartoony, bright and loud to emphasize the size and scale of the dinos,” Norval commented.

Influenced by Pop Art and underground comics, Norval’s work is a hybrid of fine art, comic, street art and illustration. “These paintings are impossible to ignore – I want the dinosaurs to look like they could walk right off the canvas into the museum.”

Anna Podris’ work features an aviary theme based on birds found in nature. “I am influenced by surrealism, classic literature, and expressionist painters,” Podris said. “When I paint, I enter into a dream state – the hours just fly by.”

Since taking up encaustic, a technique that involves wax colors fixed with heat, or any process in which colors are burned in, Podris has found herself attracted to the unpredictable qualities of the medium. Abstract passages mix with fine detailed line work. “I found myself reworking passages to get the right amount of detail on these paintings.

The building up of layers of wax, scraping, incising and fusing are all very meditative activities. There is a sense with these paintings that you can look though them to see the layers buried underneath.”

To prepare for the show, the artists spent hours at the Museum, perusing their selection of real-life references for the show. “I filled up one entire sketchbook with sketches just for this show,” said Norval. “I had to burn half of the sketches because it was just too overwhelming - dealing with that much information.”

The Nature Art Gallery is located on the top floor of the Museum Store, main building.

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings or call the gallery at 919/707-9854.

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