Picture of the Week: Clearly Spring by Nancy Pletos
March 6, 2022
Nancy Pletos was a Cass Corridor artist. She began her university studies at Wayne State University as a mathematics major, but she quickly switched to art: receiving her B.A. in 1972. She went on to receive her M.F.A. in painting in 1974, studying with John Egner. Although her graduate degree is in painting, Pletos started making small wooden sculptures in 1973. She constructed large, wooden sculptures with organic shapes in 1975, incorporating found objects. In 1976, Pletos began to create what she called “Furnishings”: mundane objects, such as dressers, mirrors, and storage chests that were embellished with whimsical elements, including “flower-shaped drawer pulls, dayglo painted rosettes, rhinestones, or wooden beads.” When she moved to New York that same year, “Pletos created her intimate, hand-sized series, ‘Small Wood Works.’” Rather than mirrors or dressers, Pletos utilized discarded objects for these works, joining together “small pieces of wood, colored glass, beads, and mirror fragments” with either a thick, glossy pigment, sand, or sawdust. Her works have been featured at the Feigenson-Rosenstein Gallery, the N.A.M.E. Gallery of Chicago, and the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Pletos’ 1978 work Clearly Spring encapsulates the whimsical feel she evoked in her art, starting in 1976. Like her “Small Wood Works”, she incorporates materials such as oil, enamel, varnish, glass beads, and wood. The work presents a layered structure of flowers seated in wooden plate, both shining with glossy pigment. This creates the appearance of flowers blooming in a garden. The layered form consists of blue flowers that are framed by yellow, pink, red, and green leaves in between. In contrast, the plate-like form features green leaves with patterns and darker shades of pigment to create texture. Red glass beads are sprinkled throughout the composition, like ladybugs roaming the flora. Pletos painted the work with a mix of both vibrant and pastel shades of enamel: hues that are characteristic of the fresh green grass and flowers of springtime. While Clearly Spring appears to be more of an abstracted rendering of flowers and plants, it is just that: clearly spring. Pletos captures the whimsy and optimism that comes along once spring has sprung. As someone who grew up with four seasons, she understands the happiness one feels when it is finally springtime. After several months, the snow melts away and the bitter cold departs. The flowers bloom, greeting the world with their beautiful colors. It is a scene that one may wish to live in forever, and the leaf plate around the flowers of the work may communicate the desire to preserve spring and the feelings it brings.
Written by Angela Athnasios
Source: Simone DeSousa Gallery, "Nancy Pletos Bio."