Original painting by Dyah Neilson - "Swimming Turtles"

Lot Number : #333

Value: $600

"Swimming Turtle" is a 6" x 6" (inches) original piece specially commissioned for The Bahamas Feeding Network.

 Dyah Neilson is a young Bahamian artist who holds a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from York University in Toronto, Canada. “My work is creative portraits that combine animals and people, compositions where the person is the focus, but the animal is used to symbolize different things throughout history, or culturally and spiritually,” she says.   In a commissioned piece called Kingfisher, the prominent-beaked birds by the same name adorn a dark-skinned woman. We know little about her from the painting despite the intense detail showing thick, coiffed hair, a cowrie shell strand around her neck, strong breastbone structure. We sense an inner strength, but what we do know is about the birds that have chosen to land on her shoulders and over her head. The artist chose kingfishers because they are symbolic of prosperity, abundance, wealth, and peace. Although portraiture is her favourite, is equally comfortable with wildlife and historic sea life. Her depiction of sea turtles swimming is so lifelike you want to slide into the clear blue-green sea and swim with them, her grouper so real you are torn between wanting boiled fish and saving the species for another day.

Dyah has been painting since she was a child. Preferring fast-drying mediums, she works in acrylic paint and coloured pencil. Dyah is deeply inspired by nature, and history, and uses symbolism in her portraits to explore the complexities of spirituality, relationships, and femininity.

Visit her at: https://www.dyahneilson.com/

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