Ontario-based artist Heather Horton paints soothing scenes filled with calming color palettes and rich textures. This series of Swimming Portraits features faceless females gliding through the water and creating ripples and bubbles all around.
Reflections of light and distortions give the illusion that each swimmer is consumed beneath the surface of the flowing water. In reality, though, the images are just flat, static paintings in which Horton has captured very realistic feelings of fluidity in her continued exploration of the human condition.
Each composition is just a fragment of a larger picture, with the solitary figures quite content in the seemingly infinite watery world. Horton says, “There is a prevailing sense of isolation and alienation in my paintings. I want the viewer to wonder what is beyond the borders of the canvas. I like to paint natural people/objects in natural surroundings…environments that are special to them, with minimal posing and no pretense.”
