Nelson's riddle

Attempting to solve the mystery of scale

by Leon Nigrosh

"BROKEN BRIDGE CHRONICLES BY PETER NELSON" At ARTSWorcester Gallery at Quinsigamond Community College, 670 West Boylston Street, through March 11.

It's not often that someone willingly lets you get inside his or her mind, but painter Peter Nelson has been doing just that for a number of years. From 1965 until his retirement in 1986, Nelson taught art courses at Quinsigamond Community College in which he shared his knowledge and thoughtfully explored the imponderables associated with creating art.

After leaving Quinsig, Nelson intensified his efforts to discover, through his own painting, the intricacies of the concept of scale. He knew intuitively that many objects or compositions could be rendered quite small and still retain a certain feeling of "rightness." These same images could be produced in a large format and still be right. But when developed in a midrange configuration, the composition almost always failed.

While continuing to research this phenomenon, Nelson came across several majestic 15th-century Italian altarpieces, including The Adoration of the Magi created by Gentile da Fabriano in 1423. This massive and overly ornate panel, depicting the Wise Men and their entourage at the manger, is nearly 10 feet-by-10 feet, and can be comprehended only from a distance. To help the faithful gain a better understanding of the gigantic opulent panorama that towered above them, da Fabriano painted a series of small, related scenes across the altarpiece's footboard, or predella. From this inspiration came Nelson's series of "Predella Paintings," produced from 1995 to 1997.

Four of these paintings serve as an introduction to Nelson's current exhibit at QCC. Each of these works consists of a large scene painted in acrylic on canvas above several smaller images painted on wood, all framed together. In the earlier works of this series, Nelson reproduces bits from the larger picture in his smaller segments. For example, his East Window, Summer shows a number of lush potted plants that share table space with assorted dinnerware. A portion of one flower-decorated plate appears in one of the small panels below.

As Nelson continued to explore this scale relationship, the content of his predellas became less literal. In Fish Counter, the large view abounds with brightly colored fillets of salmon and other fish nestled in a bed of blue/white chipped ice. The smaller insets are less defined and more circumspect, bordering on the abstract. After completing 29 major paintings in this style, Nelson realized that he had become much more concerned with the intimate panels themselves and how they relate to each other, rather than to the larger, original pictures. The next logical step in the evolution of his quest is the "Broken Bridge Chronicles'' series.

The 12 works from this latest group are prepared in a different manner. Rather than painting a scene and then extrapolating from it, Nelson paints the entire wooden background panel, usually with rectangles of soft, seasonal color, and then affixes small, blank panels to the surface. He moves these tiny framed rectangles around until they provide a rhythmic visual pattern of their own. Only then does he begin to do quick charcoal sketches on the various units. Once satisfied with the linear and spatial relationships thus defined, he adds the paint, moving and changing the painted forms until they reach a state of harmony.

Nelson's composition From the Soil could be considered either a single work or 17 separate paintings collected on one panel. In a sense, it is both. Each tiny panel is a miniature composition of warm browns, soft yellows, and pale greens. Each panel of implied roots and buds relates in some manner to its adjacent panels. Together they form a specific total impression enhanced by their sympathetic background. Late Winter Mornings is similar in construct, but the dominant colors are blue-whites and warm grays, and the lines and forms suggest bare trees and snow mounds.

To date, Nelson has yet to solve the mystery of scale, but as he continues his personal exploration, he has provided us with a growing series of paintings that are soft-spoken and unassuming, yet exude a warm feeling of great depth and strength -- much like the artist himself.

The ARTSWorcester Gallery at Quinsigamond Community College is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Call 854-4281.