Suzanne Scott Constantine, 2021
mixed media on canvas, 11″ x 14″

These four pieces, created simultaneously, represent my latest thoughts on the symbolic relation between women and nature. Throughout art history, the female nude was the focal point when displayed in a natural setting—think of the endless Renaissance images of nymphs running through the forest or bathing in a grotto; it’s as if the natural setting disappears in these works. In my four artworks, however, we can literally see the landscape through the female figures; they are as much a vantage as a presence. Like their earlier counterparts, they are nude, which implies that they too are vulnerable to the power of the gaze. Yet they go on with their activities, revealed but also concealed by their extraordinary transparency. These transparent women symbolize the new ways we can relate both to nature and to each other as we discover more authentic ways to be present in the world.