New to the Chatham-Kent art scene, Tracy Root reflected on her feelings during the ongoing pandemic and came out with a series of paintings that show a connection to the natural world.
The works are collected in Prism of Perception, an exhibition on display at ARTspace in downtown Chatham until May 14. Root, who had worked as an artist in London, moved to Chatham in 2019 and created most of the paintings in the series this year.
Root said the early days of the pandemic were “rough” for her because she was ill, her dog died and her marriage had broken up.
“I was dealing with all that on top of the isolation of COVID,” she said. “I had a hard time. I actually stopped painting for a while.
“Then I started reflecting on things and I started going into my head, and that’s how I came up with some of the nature paintings.”
Root said she started painting again after another local artist, Laurie Langford, commissioned her for a piece. She also credited a painting she made of her therapy horse for helping her return to her practice.
Formerly a realist painter, Root said she eventually got bored of that style almost two decades ago.
“I just kind of reached a plateau and I decided I would start my own style. I started just bringing everything back, simplifying everything, putting things into basic shapes and geometry and focusing on color and movement in the painting,” she said.
Noting she is always evolving, Root said her recent work is meant to present a spiritual connection with the outdoors.
“With a lot of the trees, you might see eyes of little figures in them,” she said.
Root said she expects to explore these themes further in her work going forward.