A new series, “Revel in
the Details” will feature an artist giving the personal story behind a piece in
their body of work. Have a particular artwork you would like to discuss? Email
Rebecca Rafferty at rrafferty@rochester-citynews.com with a “Revel in the Details” suggestion.
Auburn-based artists Noma and Jim Bliss frequently
collaborate on emotionally expressive, acrylic and mixed media paintings. Their
recent body of work, “World without Pain,” emphasizes the importance of
humanity reconnecting with the natural world, and with one another.
“Right now it’s all about technology, and pushing a button,”
Noma says. “Nobody talks.”
Despite the name of the series, one untitled work deals with
some excruciating territory.
“This particular piece is about caring for one another,” she
says. “Compassion versus time and money.”
Jim’s health has been mysteriously failing over the past
year. He’s lost a frightening amount of weight because he can’t keep food down,
and he suffers from chronic, debilitating pain, Noma says.
The couple’s efforts to seek answers from doctors have so far
been fruitless. But the part that disturbs Noma the most is the way they have
been treated by some of the physicians they’ve seen.
Noma calls the painting a self-portrait of Jim and herself.
At left, a figure weeps while she cradles another who lies prone across the
bottom of the picture, with a breathing mask over his face. The tilt of her
head mirrors his.
At right, a third figure represents a doctor, who seems to be
more machine than human, and wears a medieval plague mask. He points toward a
tiny door. “He’s telling us to leave,” Noma says, “and telling my husband it’s
all in his head.”
The painting recreates a real interaction the couple had with
a time-crunched doctor who said “‘I only have 15 minutes, I don’t have time for
this,'” Noma recalls.
Noma selects the palette for each painting the couple creates
based on subject matter — here, the array of gloomy dark grays and vivid reds are
meant to convey the couple’s bleak experiences.
But a delicate, key-bearing tree is sprouting from the
nurturing figure’s head, which Noma says symbolizes her idea that humans need
to reconcile their disconnect with nature and with one
another.
“If we don’t get back to being with nature and animals and
the earth, we’re nowhere,” she says.
Despite Jim’s illness, the pair still actively create art for
client commissions as well as their own projects. See more of their work at nomablissart.com and jimbliss.wix.com/jimblissart.
This article appears in Apr 20-26, 2016.
