The human figure has always held primary importance for Nel, both as a means of expressing autobiographical meaning, as well as a vehicle for commenting on the universal human condition.
Very few, if any, of Nel’s figurative studies can be considered devoid of conceptual intent or autobiographical commentary and should, accordingly, never be considered as fully representational of any particular sitter. In contrast, Nel often purposefully highlights or even exaggerates distinctive aspects of the model’s appearance, such as a sunburned complexion, frown lines or unkempt hair, as signifiers that belie psychological trauma, physical deterioration or social malaise.
The portrait of Anne, for example, which on initial appraisal may simply be read as a portrait sitting of one of Nel’s female acquaintances, takes on new significance when considered by its original title of Everyday Housewife. Upon closer inspection, the sitter’s pensive gaze is cast from beneath a furrowed brow towards a window that appears to be veiled by a curtain, obscuring any view towards the outside world – her domestic setting almost claustrophobically hemming her in. This is, perhaps, a meditation on the prospects of the Everywoman who, past her sexual prime and in the wake of rearing children, bears witness to the loss of her own identity and past ambitions that can no longer be fulfilled.
Even in Nel’s nude studies, of which only three remain, there exists the evidence of life – sunburned skin contrasting against white flesh where a bathing costume was once worn.
“I typically show models in isolation, rendering them solitary and alienated bearers of the universal human condition. Where figures are shown in the multiple, they gaze in different directions – isolated even when in the company of others."
The majority of models used in Nel’s figurative work have been drawn from her intimate circle of relations, whether her children, spouse, friends, photographs of childhood relatives or domestic aides. In rare instances, and predominantly in earlier work, Nel has based work on photographs taken of old age home residents, or figures from newspaper clippings that lent themselves to painterly abstraction.
Key Work
Isolate I, 2013.
Acrylic on canvas, 100 cm x 50 cm (diptych)
Isolate I forms part of a subsidiary series of five paintings which all make use of cropping and expanded margins to confine a range of figures within the boundaries of their respective canvases. The use of white space in these pieces recalls Nel’s incorporation of Hard Edge colour planes in her early work which, similarly, serves to introduce a physical and conceptual ‘void’ into the scene. The isolation referred to in the shared title of these works is both compositional as well as psychological. While clearly compromised, one is left unsure as to whether these figures’ circumstances are self-imposed or the consequence of social conditions beyond their control.
Of the four works, Isolate I is unique in its alternate role as a self-portrait. Executed in a looser and more expressionistic style, the gaze of the figure is direct and unsettling. This sense of unease can partially be attributed to Nel’s use of a cellular phone in capturing her own image, the immediacy of which lends an almost confessional quality to the work. In contrast to the conventions of idealised self-representation associated with the Millennial-era ‘selfie’, Nel portrays herself on entirely unapologetic terms, by confronting the viewer with a candid illustration of her age.
Key Work
Man Wearing a Straw Hat, 1977.
Acrylic on canvas, 71 cm x 40 cm
Completed in 1977, Man Wearing a Straw Hat serves as the precursor, and companion piece to, Girl with a Plait – a set of portrait studies undertaken by Nel of her husband and of herself during the period when the couple resided in the remote coastal town of Langebaan in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Produced under very basic conditions, and without the aid of photographic reference – unusual for Nel – the works serve both as portraiture studies, as well as a documentation of a harsh and largely unhappy period for Nel.
The paintings are some of the earliest to incorporate Nel’s often-used depiction of exposed, sunburned skin as a metaphor for emotional vulnerability. While the title of the work, as well as dominant visual element contained in Man Wearing a Straw Hat alludes to an unforgiving climate, Nel similarly portrays herself wearing sunglasses in Girl with a Plait, furrowing her brow against the glare of the sun. The couple, connected thematically and compositionally, yet separated across two canvases, are each held captive against a distant, abstracted shore line. This bleak, hard-edged horizon, which would later be extensively incorporated into Nel’s Postmodern landscapes, is symbolic of both a hostile physical environment, as well as untenable psychological conditions.