A'Driane Nieves is a former member of the U.S. Air Force and the creator of an art magazine and an art nonprofit organization. Nieves began painting on her own around ten years ago as a form of art therapy in 2011 while recovering from postpartum depression and after being later diagnosed with bipolar disorder, at the advice of her therapist. She used abstract expressionist painting as a means of overcoming the traumas of childhood abuse, particularly emotional repression, because of her earliest experiments. Nieves' paintings, which draw inspiration from Joan Mitchell, Cy Twombly, Bernice Bing, and early Black Abstractionist painters such as Alma Thomas and Mary Lovelace O'Neal, provide a peaceful area for introspection and thought for both the artist and the viewer. She gives both the written and visual elements credit.
LVH: In recent years, museums and galleries have made a conscious effort to spotlight female artists that have historically been overlooked. How do you feel about this rebalance in the narrative?
AD: I believe it’s long overdue and commend the effort while believing that there is so much more work to be done for an actual rebalance to occur. The latest Burns-Halperin Report revealed that Black women American artists, for example, represent just 0.5% of museum acquisitions in the United States. This kind, of course, correction must be sustained by diligent—and even aggressive—action. This is the kind of work that will take time, but I have faith that ongoing, consistent efforts will get us where we need to be.
LVH: We are excited to be featuring one of your works in our upcoming Hong Kong show, ‘Women in Abstraction’. While seeking out your own style, which other abstract artists did you look to for inspiration?
AD: Joan Mitchell—whose work is also featured in the show—is an artist I have been inspired by; I always walk away from viewing a Mitchell painting revitalized in some way that I wasn’t anticipating beforehand. Cy Twombly is of course another. But there are other abstract artists whose work and lives I have been inspired by even more than Mitchell’s or Twombly’s: Bernice Bing, Mildred Thompson, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Lillian Burwell, and Makoto Fujimura among others.
WHAT'S UP/ HONG KONG 'Women in Abstraction' is on view between 20.03.2023 - 25.03.2023 at 6/F Pedder Building, Hong Kong
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